Yujin Group's Acquisition of YTN... Opposition Claims 'Media Takeover'

30% of YTN shares held by public enterprises such as the Korea Racing Authority were finally awarded to the Eugene Group, ranked around 70th in the business world. The YTN labor union raised their voices, claiming that an 'invisible hand' was at work during the sale process, while the Democratic Party of Korea argued that "selling YTN to the private sector is an attempt to turn it into a pro-government broadcaster," calling it the "Yoon Suk-yeol administration's media control scenario."

On the 24th, Ko Han-seok, head of the YTN branch of the National Union of Mediaworkers, stated on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' that "we are almost certain that an invisible hand was at work in the YTN acquisition battle," and added, "If it had not been prearranged, the YTN shares would not have gone to the Eugene Group. That is our view."

The day before, at the bid opening hosted by Samil Accounting Corporation, the lead agency for the YTN sale, Eugene Group submitted a bid of 319.9 billion KRW and was selected as the successful bidder for the 30.95% stake held by KEPCO KDN and the Korea Racing Authority. Going forward, Eugene Group can officially become the largest shareholder through the Korea Communications Commission's approval of the change in the largest shareholder.

However, the YTN labor union claims that there was 'invisible pressure' in this acquisition battle. They find it hard to accept why Hanse Industrial and the Unification Church, initially considered strong candidates, were eliminated.

Ko said, "At first, there was a rumor that Hanse Industrial, a company with close ties to Kim Dae-gi, Chief Presidential Secretary, would acquire it," and added, "Moon Hyun-jin, the third son of the Unification Church founder, also entered the bidding, and he is known to have considerable financial resources, but he only bid 120 billion KRW this time," raising suspicions.

He explained, "We suspect that something irrational is going on, but there is no concrete evidence yet. However, based on various circumstantial factors, this is what we are saying."

Immediately after the news of Eugene Group's successful bid was announced, the Democratic Party issued a statement calling it a 'media control conspiracy.' The Democratic Party's Special Committee on Media Freedom stated the previous day, "We strongly regret the Yoon Suk-yeol government's immorality in selling the quasi-public broadcaster YTN to a private company that has been socially criticized for unethical behavior," and raised their voices, asking, "Is the intention to directly control or sell it off to broadcast ‘Ttaengyun News’?news that only praises the president?just like during the military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan when the government controlled the media?"

Yoon Young-duk, the Democratic Party's floor spokesperson, also said, "As feared, the Yoon Suk-yeol government's media control scenario has become a reality," and added, "The Yoon Suk-yeol administration's ambition to sell the quasi-public broadcaster to the private sector and degrade it into a pro-government broadcaster is blatantly obvious."

Meanwhile, YTN plans to respond to the share sale through a citizen shareholder movement. Ko said, "If citizens buy YTN shares and delegate their voting rights to the YTN Employee Stock Ownership Association through online signatures, we will use the delegated authority to fight back when the fair broadcasting system at YTN is undermined by capital, whether through joint lawsuits or convening shareholder meetings using voting rights," adding, "Our initial goal is to reach 1.5%, which is the maximum scope for minority shareholder rights under the Commercial Act."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.