The Daewoo dissolution and corruption scandal was a 1999–2006 scandal in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

involving the bankruptcy of

Daewoo Daewoo ( ; ; ; ; 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 aut ...

, then-country's second largest company, and a subsequent corruption investigation, involving arrests, escapes and eventual conviction of dozens of company's top executives. The resulting scandal has been described as one of the biggest scandals in South Korea.

Background

was a major South Korean conglomerate. Prior to the

Asian financial crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide economic meltd ...

, Daewoo was the second largest conglomerate in Korea. By 1999, Daewoo went bankrupt, with debts of about US$50-80 billion.

Corruption scandal

Soon after the demise, South Korean prosecutors filed charges against over 40 top executives, in what BBC described as the Daewoo corruption scandal. This was related to the discovery that company's auditors concealed the amount of debt, and that bribes of about 470 billion won were involved (close to US$400 million). Loss from bribery and corruption has been estimated to over US$1 billion. Daewoo Chairman

Kim Woo-choong Kim Woo-Choong (;19 December 1936 – 9 December 2019) was a South Korean businessman who was the founder and chairman of Daewoo Group until its collapse in 1999. Early life and education Born in Daegu, Kim is the son of a former school teache ...

fled to Vietnam, and former Daewoo factory workers put up "Wanted" posters with his picture. Kim returned to Korea in June 2005 and was promptly arrested. He was charged with masterminding accounting fraud of 41 trillion won (US$43.4 billion), illegally borrowing 9.8 trillion won (US$10.3 billion), and smuggling US$3.2 billion out of the country. On 30 May 2006, Kim was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of fraud and embezzlement. On the last day of the trial, Kim tearfully addressed the court, "I cannot dodge my responsibility of wrongly buttoning up the final button of fate." On 30 December 2007, Kim was granted amnesty by President

Roh Moo-hyun Roh Moo-hyun (, ; 1 September 1946 – 23 May 2009) was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the ninth president of South Korea from 2003 to 2008. Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for ...

References

{{Corporate scandals Daewoo Scandals in South Korea Corruption in South Korea 1999 in South Korea 1999 scandals

Background

Corruption scandal

See also

References