Home > National > Social Affairs

Seoul court nullifies approval of Eugene ENT's YTN acquisition

Published: 28 Nov. 2025, 14:57

The YTN office building in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Feb. 7, 2024 [NEWS1]

A Seoul court on Friday nullified a decision made by the now-defunct Korea Communications Commission (KCC) to approve Eugene ENT’s acquisition of local news broadcaster YTN, ruling that the approval was procedurally unlawful.

The ruling effectively resets the broadcaster’s privatization process, which will now be overseen by the newly launched Korea Media and Communications Commission.

The Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs — including the YTN employee stock ownership association — who had filed a suit seeking to overturn the KCC’s decision to approve a change in YTN’s largest shareholder.

The court found that the KCC had voted on the change in February last year with only two commissioners, not a full panel, and called the move “procedurally unlawful.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]