The Broadcasting Media Communications Commission voted to hold a hearing on Eugene ENT, YTN’s largest shareholder. It is a preliminary step to determine whether to cancel the Korea Communications Commission’s 2024 approval of the change in YTN’s largest shareholder.

Bamittongwi held its 38th plenary meeting on Sept. 28 and deliberated and approved an agenda item titled “Matter concerning a hearing for Eugene ENT Co., Ltd.”

Chairman Jong-cheol Kim (김종철) recused himself from deliberation and approval of the item, citing his history of submitting an opinion before taking office regarding cancellation of the approval for the change in YTN’s largest shareholder. Under a Ministry of Government Legislation interpretation that a recused commissioner is still counted toward the quorum to open a meeting, he remained in the meeting room, and Vice Chairman Min-su Ko (고민수) led deliberations on the agenda item.

In the vote, Ko, Seong-ok Yoon (윤성옥) and Shin-hwan Ryu (류신환) backed the original proposal, while Su-young Choi (최수영) supported it on the premise of two conditions. Sang-geun Lee (이상근) opposed it. The item passed with 3 votes in favour, 1 conditional vote in favour and 1 against.

The hearing will focus on the legality of the approval vote made in 2024 under a two-member commission structure, the participation of then Chairman Dong-kwan Lee in the review, and the former commission’s administrative procedures, including the YTN stake sale process and requests for additional 자료. It will also examine whether what Eugene ENT submitted during the approval process, and subsequent actions involving the collective bargaining agreement and the CEO nomination committee, matched what was presented at the time of approval.

Commissioners recommended by the People Power Party offered differing views on whether to hold a hearing and the scope of the investigation.

Lee opposed holding a hearing itself. He said caution is needed in proceeding with the hearing and cancellation process because a first-instance ruling in a lawsuit seeking cancellation of the approval for the change in YTN’s largest shareholder has not been finalised and an appeal is under way.

Lee also took issue with the fact that a significant part of the investigation targets administrative actions by the former commission, including a vote made under a two-member structure and the review procedures at the time. “It must be made clear whether this is a hearing for the former commission, and what this has to do with Eugene ENT,” he said, calling for a distinction between the responsibilities of the administrative agency and the business operator.

Choi, meanwhile, cast a conditional vote in favour, while maintaining her existing concerns about the timing of pushing ahead with the hearing, on the premise that it would be conducted objectively and neutrally.

“After 충분히 hearing the party’s explanation and grasping the factual and legal relationships, we should discuss how to handle the matter based on the results,” Choi said. “Mistakes by the administrative agency must not be shifted onto the business operator,” she said.

She also raised objections to wording used in the investigation items. Choi said terms such as “anti-social order” and “shoddy review” could be seen as having already reached a conclusion before the hearing, and stressed the need to organise the items objectively and to review the basis for raising issues and counterarguments in a balanced way.

She also asked that relevant materials and Eugene ENT’s explanations and rebuttal 자료 be provided without omission so the hearing officer can investigate independently without prejudgment, and that the process should not be conducted in a way that induces a specific conclusion. Bamittongwi decided to record Choi’s requests in the minutes as a “conditional vote in favour.”

Commissioners recommended by the Democratic Party supported the hearing, saying it is necessary to confirm the facts and determine responsibility through the process.

Yoon said she agreed that illegality by the administrative agency must be distinguished from illegality by the business operator, adding that “a hearing is needed to investigate whether the business operator has illegality or not.”

Ko also said a hearing is not a process that prejudges the outcome, but a system under the Administrative Procedures Act to investigate facts and evidence and hear the party’s views before a disposition, and explained that the hearing officer would independently examine related issues.

Ryu, a presidential appointee, supported the original proposal, saying the hearing should sufficiently examine procedural and substantive problems in the existing approval process and then the plenary meeting should make a final judgment.

Bamittongwi plans to give Eugene ENT advance notice of the hearing within this month and to hold the hearing in October. It will then make a final decision on whether to cancel the approval for the change in YTN’s largest shareholder based on the results.

Earlier, the Seoul Administrative Court ruled in November last year, in a lawsuit filed by YTN’s employee stock ownership association, that the approval vote by the two-member commission had procedural defects and ordered that the disposition be cancelled. Eugene ENT appealed, and the appeal is now under way.

Bamittongwi also put the same item on the agenda on Aug. 21, but Choi and Lee opposed moving ahead with a hearing and left without taking part in deliberation and approval, and discussions collapsed due to a quorum issue.