GM Daewoo calls on S. Korea to provide financial aid

SEOUL, April 28 (Yonhap) -- A senior official at GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co.
called Tuesday on the South Korean government to provide liquidity to the
troubled local unit of General Motors Corp., irrespective of whether the U.S.
parent continues to support the unit or not.
GM Daewoo has been negotiating with its main creditor Korea Development Bank over
its call for one trillion won (US$741.3 million) in financial assistance since
early this year.
But the state-run bank and the South Korean government have rebuffed the plea by
GM Daewoo, saying they will help GM Daewoo only if GM gives its assurance to keep
its local unit afloat.
"It's meaningless to talk about who should first provide assistance," said the
official at GM Daewoo. "The only way is to save both sides together."
In Detroit, GM's chief financial officer Ray Young told Korean journalists that
the U.S. automaker has no plan to support GM Daewoo.
Since February, GM Daewoo, the third-largest carmaker in South Korea, has made
the request for financial aid after exhausting a $2 billion credit line.
Hit by collapsing exports following a global economic slump, GM Daewoo has closed
or idled its three plants as vehicle sales plunged and cash reserves dry up.
GM Daewoo posted a net loss of 875.7 billion won last year, marking its first
annual loss in four years. Sales fell 1.6 percent to 12.3 trillion won.
In the first three months of this year, GM Daewoo's vehicle sales plunged 43.8
percent from the same period last year to 135,489 units.
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