Prosecution to auction former Daewoo chairman's seized properties

By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors are taking legal steps to sell confiscated
assets of the founder and former chairman of the now-dismantled Daewoo Group in
order to collect 17.9 trillion won (US$15.7 billion) owed in forfeiture for
fraud, officials said Thursday.
The Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office said it requested the state-run Korea Asset
Management Co. (KAMCO) to open a bid for the disposal of the confiscated assets
of Kim Woo-choong, who was found guilty last year of hiding about 115 billion won
(US$203 million) in property and violating foreign exchange law.
Daewoo, once South Korea's second-largest conglomerate, collapsed in 1999 under
the weight of US$80 billion in debt in the wake of the Asian financial crisis.
After years abroad as a fugitive, the ailing tycoon came back to the nation and
served jail time for accounting fraud and embezzlement in 2006.
Kim's assets subject to forfeiture are worth 241.8 billion won by KAMCO's
estimation, mainly composed of Daewoo affiliates' securities, prosecutors said.
The bid will be held from Feb. 15-17.
"If the assets are sold off, it will be the largest confiscation ever," a
prosecutor at the office said, noting the final contract price could change
during the bidding procedure.
The greatest amount of funds reclaimed formerly was from former President Roh
Tae-woo, who paid 230 billion won over 10 years for corruption charges.
"We will execute (the law) as far as possible by searching for any other assets
that might have been concealed, besides the properties already put on auction,"
the prosecutor said.
Before Daewoo's fall, Kim was an inspiration to Korean youth, transforming a
small textile firm into a major conglomerate that drove Korean exports abroad and
fueled the country's meteoric industrial growth from the 1970s through the 90s.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)