Kim Woo Choong Returns to Korea after Five Years in Exile
Kim Woo Choong, who's rise and fall as the founder of the Daewoo corporate empire has come to embody South Korea's economic growth returned Tuesday after almost six years in exile as a fugitive.
In 1967, Kim borrowed $5,000 and started a company that he named Daewoo, or "big universe" in Korean.
In 30 years, Kim, who traveled overseas 200 days a year and claimed to have never taken a day off, built a textile exporter whose business once occupied a single room into a conglomerate with $67 billion in sales at its peak in 1998. Daewoo's cars, ships, refrigerators and television sets flooded markets around the world.
By the 1990s, Kim shrugged off signs of economic slumps and went on a worldwide shopping spree. He bought dilapidated auto and home appliance plants in former communist countries and developing nations. At its peak, Daewoo took over a company every three days.
By 1997, Daewoo had 40 affiliates at home and 396 subsidiaries overseas with 300,000 employees. It built car factories - by itself and in joint ventures - in 14 countries, including China, India, Poland, Romania and Uzbekistan. But it was an empire built on borrowed money. It crumbled when the Asian financial crisis hit and banks called in loans.
Kim's return after five years and eight months on the run has captured the attention of a nation eager to find out what exactly happened to Daewoo, which was South Korea's second-largest conglomerate after Hyundai in 1999 when it crumbled under $80 billion in debt, in one of the world's largest bankruptcies.
Once the idol of young office workers, Kim fled South Korea in October 1999, and has been vilified since then on accusations he was the mastermind of the largest business fraud in the country's history. His case is being closely watched now for signs of South Korea's commitment to cleaning up its business image and to good corporate governance.
Korean newspapers quote Kim as saying "I sincerely apologize to the people,"
In 1967, Kim borrowed $5,000 and started a company that he named Daewoo, or "big universe" in Korean.
In 30 years, Kim, who traveled overseas 200 days a year and claimed to have never taken a day off, built a textile exporter whose business once occupied a single room into a conglomerate with $67 billion in sales at its peak in 1998. Daewoo's cars, ships, refrigerators and television sets flooded markets around the world.
By the 1990s, Kim shrugged off signs of economic slumps and went on a worldwide shopping spree. He bought dilapidated auto and home appliance plants in former communist countries and developing nations. At its peak, Daewoo took over a company every three days.
By 1997, Daewoo had 40 affiliates at home and 396 subsidiaries overseas with 300,000 employees. It built car factories - by itself and in joint ventures - in 14 countries, including China, India, Poland, Romania and Uzbekistan. But it was an empire built on borrowed money. It crumbled when the Asian financial crisis hit and banks called in loans.
Kim's return after five years and eight months on the run has captured the attention of a nation eager to find out what exactly happened to Daewoo, which was South Korea's second-largest conglomerate after Hyundai in 1999 when it crumbled under $80 billion in debt, in one of the world's largest bankruptcies.
Once the idol of young office workers, Kim fled South Korea in October 1999, and has been vilified since then on accusations he was the mastermind of the largest business fraud in the country's history. His case is being closely watched now for signs of South Korea's commitment to cleaning up its business image and to good corporate governance.
Korean newspapers quote Kim as saying "I sincerely apologize to the people,"
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