On the 28th, YTN shares hit the daily price limit during intraday trading. The rally came after a court canceled the Korea Communications Commission (KCC)'s disposition approving the change of YTN's largest shareholder from a state-run company to the private Eugene Group.
As of 2:56 p.m. that day, YTN was trading at 4,165 won on the Korea Exchange, up 960 won (29.95%) from the previous session. Shares surged on news around 2 p.m. that the Seoul Administrative Court's Administrative Division 3 (Presiding Judge Choi Su-jin) had canceled the KCC's approval of the change in YTN's largest shareholder.
That day, the court found it unlawful that the KCC's decision approving the plan to change YTN's largest shareholder to Eugene Group was adopted by a two-Commissioner system.
The court said, "Even if, due to unavoidable circumstances, fewer than five members are in office, for the defendant to function substantively as a collegial body, decisions must be made with at least three members in office," and added, "In this case, however, the defendant adopted the resolution with only two members in office and granted approval on that basis, so the disposition is defective and unlawful."
In 2022, Eugene ENT, a special-purpose company of Eugene Group, acquired 30.95% of YTN held by KEPCO KDN Co. (KDN) and the Korea Racing Authority (KRA) for 319.9 billion won. The KCC approved the change of Eugene ENT's largest shareholder in Feb. last year.
Afterward, the YTN labor union filed a lawsuit seeking to cancel the KCC's disposition, saying, "We will launch a legal fight to return all processes of YTN's privatization to square one."