Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
JoongAng Ilbo begins workout as creditors back debt restructuring
JoongAng Group Vice Chairman Hong Jeong-do bows in apology during a news conference at the JoongAng Ilbo building in Seoul, June 15, over a liquidity crisis across the group. Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
JoongAng Ilbo, one of Korea's major newspaper publishers, won approval Friday to begin a workout program after facing a liquidity crisis.
A workout is a debt restructuring process conducted through negotiations with creditors, allowing a company to retain greater control over its restructuring than under court-supervised rehabilitation.
The decision came about three weeks after JoongAng Ilbo, the flagship of JoongAng Group, formally applied for a workout with its lead creditor, Hana Bank, on June 19, after a 22 billion won ($15 million) commercial paper issue was officially declared in default amid mounting financial strain across the group.
Hana Bank and other financial creditors approved the launch of the workout at the first creditors' meeting, held through a written vote.
By 6 p.m., creditors representing more than 75 percent of outstanding financial claims had backed the plan, meeting the threshold required to begin the process.
Under Korean law, a workout requires approval from creditors representing at least three-quarters of outstanding financial claims.
Following the approval, creditors are expected to assess the newspaper's assets, liabilities and operations before drawing up detailed debt restructuring measures and a plan to restore the company's operations.
While the newspaper opted for a workout, five other group affiliates, including broadcaster JTBC and holding company JoongAng Holdings, filed for court-led rehabilitation proceedings as liquidity problems across the group worsened.