Daewoo ( ;
Hangul
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The ...
: ,
Hanja
Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom.
(, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...
: , ; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "dae" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean
chaebol (type of conglomerate) and automobile manufacturer.
It was founded on 22 March 1967 as Daewoo Industrial and was declared bankrupt on 1 November 1999, with debts of about US$50 billion (equivalent to $ billion in ). Prior to the
1997 Asian financial crisis, Daewoo was the second largest conglomerate in South Korea after the
Hyundai Group
Hyundai Group (; ) is a South Korean conglomerate founded by Chung Ju-yung. The first company in the group was founded in 1947 as a construction company. With government assistance, Chung and his family members rapidly expanded into various i ...
. There were about 20 divisions under the Daewoo Group, some of which survived as independent companies.
History
Beginning and development
The Daewoo Group was founded by
Kim Woo-choong
Kim Woo-Choong (December 19, 1936 – December 9, 2019) was a South Korean businessman who was the founder and chairman of Daewoo Group until its collapse in 1999.
Background
Born in Daegu, he was the son of the provincial governor. He was a ...
in March 1967. He was the son of the Provincial Governor of
Daegu. He graduated from the Kyonggi High School, then finished with an Economics Degree at
Yonsei University
Yonsei University (; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. As a member of the " SKY" universities, Yonsei University is deemed one of the three most prestigious institutions in the country. It is particularly respected in t ...
in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...
.
During the 1960s, after the end of the