"No Evidence... Circumstantially So"
As Eugene Group won the bid for a 30.95% stake in YTN, a news channel owned by KEPCO KDN and Korea Racing Authority, the YTN labor union raised their voices, saying, "Eugene Group's acquisition of the stake was the result of an 'invisible hand' at work."
On the 24th, Go Han-seok, head of the YTN branch of the National Union of Mediaworkers, said on MBC's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" program, "We are almost certain that an invisible hand was at work in the YTN acquisition battle," adding, "If it had not been prearranged, the YTN stake would not have gone to Eugene Group. That is our view."
At the bid opening held the previous day under the supervision of Samil Accounting Corporation, the lead manager of the YTN sale, Eugene Group submitted a bid of 319.9 billion KRW and was selected as the successful bidder for the stakes held by KEPCO KDN and Korea Racing Authority.
However, the YTN labor union had expected Hanse Industrial, which has close ties with Kim Dae-gi, Chief of Staff to the President, to acquire the stake, and they expressed surprise at Hanse Industrial's failure in the bidding. They also found it suspicious that the Unification Church, known to have substantial financial resources, only bid 120 billion KRW.
Go said, "We suspect that something irrational is going on, and we think that someone like Moon Hyun-jin might have been forced to give up on acquiring YTN," adding, "The Unification Church is known to have considerable financial power, but bidding only 120 billion KRW is less than 30% of the current stock price."
When asked by the host if there was concrete evidence to confirm this, he replied, "There is no definite evidence yet. However, when we consider various circumstances together, that is what we are saying."
The YTN labor union also pointed out that Eugene Group's Chairwoman Yoo Kyung-sun was previously sentenced to prison for bribing prosecutor Kim Kwang-jun, emphasizing that the group lacks the qualifications to operate YTN. Go said, "Although Chairwoman Yoo received a suspended sentence, Eugene Group once operated a lottery business, but the CEO was sentenced to prison, causing them to lose the lottery business license," adding, "A company that cannot even run a lottery business cannot be trusted to operate a 24-hour news channel in South Korea. We believe that is impossible."
Eugene Group's acquisition of YTN will be finalized after the Korea Communications Commission's suitability review of the largest shareholder. Go said, "They say they will consider fairness and public interest, but we naturally expect Eugene Group to pass the suitability review. We see the Korea Communications Commission's procedure as a mere formality," adding, "We believe Eugene Group was effectively preselected from the start, and if so, they must have entered the bid on the premise of approval from the Korea Communications Commission."
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