Gov`t rules out immediate support for GM Daewoo

SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- The government has no immediate plans to help the
South Korean unit of U.S. automaker General Motors Corp. cope with tumbling sales
amid a worldwide economic slump, officials said Thursday.
GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co., the third-largest carmaker in South Korea, has
been buffeted by sinking demand both at home and abroad, with sales dropping 8
percent on-year to 881,959 units last year.
"The government's current stance is not to help individual companies and senior
officials conveyed that to GM Daewoo executives," said an official at the
Ministry of Knowledge Economy.
GM Daewoo President Michael Grimaldi and other senior executives visited the
ministry on Wednesday to ask for assistance if overall market conditions
deteriorated further, he said.
The government refrained from stepping in to help Ssangyong Motor Co., the
smallest of the country's five automakers, which was placed under court
receivership last week.
The ministry stressed GM Daewoo should first take self-help measures before
requesting government support, he said.
In a parliamentary hearing last month, Knowledge Economy Minister Lee Youn-ho
said GM must pledge not to sell off or close its South Korean affiliate.
The unlisted GM Daewoo was set up in 2002 when GM and its partners took a
majority stake in the automobile unit of the now defunct Daewoo Group, which
collapsed under heavy debts in 1998.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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