South Korea's Broadcast Media and Telecommunications Commission requested an early resumption of a hearing to determine whether to cancel approval for Eugene ENT, YTN's largest shareholder. Commissioners differed over the hearing schedule and the presiders' authority, but decided to urge swift progress in the process.

The commission voted on the decision after holding its 49th plenary meeting of 2026 at the Government Complex Gwacheon on Nov. 13 and discussing how to handle the hearing for Eugene ENT.

Three hearing presiders had held the hearing on Nov. 3 and decided to resume the process on Dec. 22. The decision took into account that the Seoul High Court is set to rule on Dec. 18 in an appeal related to cancelling approval for YTN's top shareholder.

At the meeting, commissioners discussed whether it was appropriate for the presiders to set the schedule for after the appeal ruling. Vice Chairman Min-su Ko (고민수) presented three options: urging a swift resumption of the hearing, replacing the presiders, or invalidating the existing hearing process.

Commissioner Sung-ok Yoon (윤성옥) said the presiders had exceeded their authority by suspending the process for an extended period. The view was that halting the hearing could effectively constrain the commission's authority to decide on administrative action.

Commissioner Soo-young Choi (최수영) said the presiders' independent judgment should be respected. Choi said it was appropriate to proceed with the process on the Dec. 22 schedule set by the presiders and discuss follow-up steps based on the outcome. Commissioner Sang-geun Lee (이상근) also urged caution, saying replacing the presiders and similar steps could undermine procedural legitimacy.

How to handle the agenda item also emerged as an issue. Choi raised a problem with changing a matter initially set to be discussed as a reported item at a briefing into a resolution item. After a recess and a separate briefing, they agreed to handle it as a resolution item.

The commission ultimately adopted a revised proposal put forward by Yoon. It decided to verify whether suspending the hearing was a judgment made within the presiders' duties, including evidence examination and fact-finding, and to request cooperation to proceed swiftly to ensure legal stability for the parties.

The commission had earlier voted in September to hold a hearing to check whether there were problems in the process of approving Eugene ENT as YTN's top shareholder. The hearing is a procedure to decide whether to cancel the existing approval.

Separately, the commission conditionally approved an application for change of approval related to Hyundai Home Shopping's corporate split at the meeting. Hyundai Home Shopping will separate its investment business division and establish a new entity tentatively named Hyundai Home Shopping Holdings. The commission imposed five approval conditions, including injecting 50 billion won for responsible management resources and maintaining the ratio of outside directors.

It will also revamp the system for evaluating telecommunications business operators' user protection work. From 2027, it will expand the scope of evaluation targets and disclose evaluation criteria at the start of the year, while abolishing the two-year pilot evaluation for new operators.

The commission also deliberated and voted on administrative sanctions against businesses that violated location information protection regulations. It decided new sanctions for businesses penalised for 2022 violations by reflecting court rulings in administrative lawsuits and outcomes of administrative appeals. It also approved administrative sanctions against businesses that did not comply with corrective action orders.

It also drew up a plan to expand viewer media centres. The commission plans to build at least 1 additional viewer media centre in each region, taking into account population, area and accessibility across the 5 major and 3 special regions.