This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 4:51 p.m. on Jun. 15, 2026.
Five core affiliates of JoongAng Group applied to commence corporate rehabilitation proceedings and will face the court's decision. According to legal sources on the 15th, the Seoul Bankruptcy Court assigned the cases to commence rehabilitation proceedings for the five corporations—JoongAng Holdings, JTBC, Contentree JoongAng, Megabox JoongAng, and JoongAng P&I—to the Rehabilitation Division 2 on this day. It came two days after JTBC fell into a state of default by failing to repay securitized borrowing fund of 20.6 billion won within the deadline, prompting the group's holding company, major operating corporations, and real estate and equity holding entities to seek the court's protection in quick succession.
JoongAng Group had been plugging maturing short-term borrowings through inter-affiliate lending, payment guarantees, and provision of collateral, but as it recently became increasingly impossible to newly borrow from outside or extend existing maturities, this internal cash-circulation method appears to have hit its limits.
◇ JoongAng Holdings at the "top of the governance structure" also files for rehabilitation
JoongAng Holdings, which applied for corporate rehabilitation on this day, is the holding company at the apex of JoongAng Group's governance structure. Vice Chairman Hong Jeong-do is the largest shareholder with 55.8% equity, CEO Hong Jeong-in of Contentree JoongAng holds 37.2%, and Chairman Hong Seok-hyun of JoongAng Holdings holds 7%.
JoongAng Holdings owns 64.7% equity of JoongAng Ilbo, 25% equity of JTBC, 100% equity of JTBC JoongAng, and 100% equity of JoongAng P&I. JoongAng Ilbo also holds 5% equity of JTBC and 2.4% equity of Contentree JoongAng. In other words, JoongAng Holdings sits at the top of the control axis that extends across newspaper, broadcasting, and content affiliates.
JoongAng P&I is a wholly owned subsidiary of JoongAng Holdings and serves as an important bridge connecting JoongAng Holdings and Contentree JoongAng within the group's governance structure. JoongAng P&I holds 38.6% equity of Contentree JoongAng, and Contentree JoongAng in turn holds 53.8% equity of SLL JoongAng, 59.4% equity of Phoenix Sports, and 96% equity of Megabox JoongAng.
The remaining 4% equity of Megabox JoongAng is held by JoongAng Multiplex Development, which is owned 77.3% by JoongAng P&I and 22.7% by Dabo JoongAng. Megabox JoongAng's subsidiaries include Playtime JoongAng (100% equity) and Mega Ice Box (65%).
◇ Contentree JoongAng, a funding channel for group companies... Megabox's share is overwhelming
The most important axis in this rehabilitation filing is "Contentree JoongAng–Megabox JoongAng." Contentree JoongAng is a listed company and an intermediate holding company for the content unit, but in recent times it has functioned as a funding channel for group companies.
Contentree JoongAng's inter-affiliate lending is overwhelmingly concentrated in Megabox JoongAng. As of the end of last year, the balance of lending that Contentree JoongAng had extended to JoongAng Holdings, Megabox JoongAng, HLL JoongAng, and Phoenix Sports totaled 231.9 billion won. Of that, lending to Megabox JoongAng was 168 billion won, exceeding 72% of the total. This is 2.6 times the combined lending to JoongAng Holdings, HLL JoongAng, and Phoenix Sports (63.9 billion won).
Contentree JoongAng's support for Megabox was not limited to lending. Regarding Megabox JoongAng's hybrid capital-type borrowing fund, Contentree JoongAng provided a liquidity support and conditional debt assumption agreement to a special purpose company (SPC). There were also transactions in which Contentree JoongAng repurchased Megabox JoongAng's electronic short-term bonds or reacquired them after maturity collection. Although structured as purchases of electronic short-term bonds, in substance Contentree JoongAng was supporting the refinancing of Megabox JoongAng's short-term borrowings.
Funding support for Phoenix Sports and Playtime JoongAng was provided in a similar manner. Phoenix Sports is a sports investment corporation 59.4% owned by Contentree JoongAng and 40.6% owned by SLL JoongAng.
When Phoenix Sports borrowed from an external SPC, Contentree JoongAng provided a guarantee, and Megabox JoongAng provided its Playtime JoongAng shares as collateral. Contentree JoongAng also provided a guarantee for Playtime JoongAng's separate borrowing. The structure is that Contentree JoongAng supports Megabox, Megabox puts up its Playtime equity as collateral, and Phoenix's borrowing is backed by Contentree JoongAng's guarantee along with Megabox's collateral. Rather than each affiliate borrowing on its own, they have been shoring up short-term liquidity by rotating each other's equity and credit.
The background for JoongAng Holdings filing for rehabilitation together also lies in this internal cash-circulation structure. JoongAng Holdings, while being the holding company at the very top of the group, is assessed to have served as a channel that pulled in affiliate funds to manage group liquidity financially.
As of the end of last year, Contentree JoongAng had lent 40 billion won to JoongAng Holdings, and JoongAng Ilbo had also lent 45 billion won to JoongAng Holdings. JoongAng P&I likewise provided short-term lending to JoongAng Holdings. On one side, funds were moving up to the holding company from JoongAng Ilbo, Contentree JoongAng, and JoongAng P&I, while on the other side, Contentree JoongAng was propping up the borrowings of Megabox JoongAng, Phoenix Sports, and Playtime JoongAng through lending and guarantees.
◇ SLL JoongAng, backed by FIs, left off the rehabilitation list
SLL JoongAng, by contrast, did not apply for corporate rehabilitation on this day. SLL is a core affiliate in the content unit in which Contentree JoongAng holds 53.8% equity. Under it are production companies such as HighZium Studio, Climax Studio, Production H, BA Entertainment, and Film Monster.
Unlike Megabox JoongAng, SLL JoongAng was not an entity for which Contentree JoongAng directly resolved liquidity issues through lending and purchases of short-term notes. Rather, it is more reasonable to view it as a core asset underpinning Contentree JoongAng's content business value and as an affiliate at the center of fulfilling shareholder agreements with financial investors (FI) and of the governance restructuring process.
In Mar. of this year, Contentree JoongAng disclosed that it would acquire additional equity in SLL JoongAng to raise its stake to 63%, and in that process, JoongAng Holdings provided SLL JoongAng shares as collateral to fulfill the shareholder agreement with Praxis Capital Partner. SLL JoongAng shares served as key collateral in the group's liquidity procurement and contract fulfillment process.
◇ Vice Chairman Hong Jeong-do: "No halt to core operations such as the World Cup"
Meanwhile, JoongAng Group emphasized that it will continue its core operations without interruption even after entering corporate rehabilitation proceedings. Vice Chairman Hong Jeong-do of JoongAng Group wrote in an email to all employees, "Rehabilitation proceedings are not a procedure to wind down a company," adding, "It is a system to normalize a company by adjusting debt under the supervision of the court while continuing operations, and the principle is that the existing management continues to run the business as the administrator."
In the afternoon, Hong announced his position to reporters at JoongAng Ilbo's headquarters in Sangam-dong, Seoul. He said, "We did our best to stabilize management, but due to various reasons, including a tightening in funding caused by a deterioration in external economic conditions and a downgrade in credit ratings, we could not avoid today's inevitable choice," and emphasized, "We will make every effort for employment stability, and each company's core operations, including coverage of the North and Central America World Cup, will continue to operate normally without interruption."