Kim Woo-Choong (19 December 1936 – 9 December 2019)^[1] was a South Korean businessman who was the founder and chairman of Daewoo Group until its collapse in 1999.

Background

Born in Daegu, Kim was the son of the provincial governor of North Gyeongsang Province. He then became a newspaper delivery boy once his father was removed from power after the independence of Korea from Japanese rule. He graduated from the prestigious Kyunggi High School, then finished his education with an Economics Degree at Yonsei University in Seoul. Kim's father was the mentor of future President, Park Chung Hee, who in turn supported Kim to a great degree financially

Daewoo

After graduating from Yonsei, Kim entered a small trading corporation specializing in textiles and clothing. He left and created Daewoo Industries with five other associates. He managed to do well using his connections in the alumni network of Yonsei University and with political backing.

Kim rapidly expanded the renamed Daewoo Group by using borrowed money to purchase near-bankrupt companies. After 30 years in business, Daewoo Group was listed as second in assets and third in revenues in Korea. Daewoo had the most overseas branch offices among all the major Korean chaebols, a sign of the company's rapid growth.

However, due to its poor financial structure; the unstable Daewoo Group plummeted into chaos when the Asian Financial Crisis hit in 1997. It had to sell off nearly 50 subsidiaries, only focusing on the core divisions.

By 1999, Daewoo, the second largest conglomerate in South Korea with interests in about 100 countries, went bankrupt, with debts of about US$50 billion (equivalent to $88 billion in 2022).

Soon after the demise, Kim Woo-choong fled to Vietnam, and was charged with accounting fraud worth 41 trillion won (US$43.4 billion), illegally borrowing 9.8 trillion won (US$10.3 billion), and laundering US$3.2 billion out of the country while in exile. Kim Woo-choong was puton the list of Interpol due to his irresponsible spending as the chairman of Daewoo Group^[2]

He was arrested soon after he returned to South Korea on 14 June 2005, and apologized "for hurting the nation" and accepted full responsibility for the collapse of the group, adding that he was "ready to accept whatever the authorities have in store for him," according to the Chosun Ilbo.^[3]

Criminal charges

In May 2006 he was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of charges including embezzlement and accounting fraud. 21 trillion won ($US22 billion) of his fortune was seized and he was fined an additional 10 million won (about $US10,000).^[4]

Citing health concerns, his sentence was reduced to 8 and 1/2 years; then on 30 December 2007, he was pardoned by President Roh Moo-hyun. South Korean presidents traditionally hand out pardons for the new year.^[5]

Death

On 9 December 2019, Kim died due to pneumonia at Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, 10 days before his 83rd birthday.^[6]

See also

• Economy of South Korea

References