Kim Woo-Choong (December 19, 1936 – December 9, 2019) was a South Korean businessman who was the founder and chairman of Daewoo Group until its collapse in 1999.

Background

Born in

Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

, he was the son of the provincial governor. He was a newspaper delivery boy when he was a youngster, helping a family that depended almost solely on him during a brief period. He graduated from the prestigious

Kyunggi High School Kyunggi High School () is the oldest modern high school in Korea, located in Gangnam District, Seoul. The school is an all-boys school, and its counterpart is , also located in Gangnam District, Seoul. Kyunggi High School has educated many lead ...

, then finished with an Economics Degree at

Yonsei University Yonsei University (; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. As a member of the "SKY" universities, Yonsei University is deemed one of the three most prestigious institutions in the country. It is particularly respected in the ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. His father was the teacher or mentor of future President,

Park Chung Hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...

, who in turn supported Kim to a great degree both financially and business-wise.

Daewoo

After graduating from Yonsei, he entered a small trading corporation specializing in textiles and clothing. He left and created Daewoo Industries with five other associates. Using his connections in the alumni of the Yonsei and with political backing, he managed to do well, and consecutively bought many different companies. Daewoo Group was originally built on companies that were bought, often distressed companies. Kim was successful in transforming near-bankrupt companies into successful enterprises. By the 1990s, with a history of some 30 years, Daewoo Group was listed as second in assets and third in revenues in Korea. This rapid growth was remarkable in comparison to how the other two of the Big 3 Korean companies, (

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai ...

, LG,

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

), made their mark. However, due to its rather hollow financial structure, even though it had the most overseas branch offices, when the

Asian Financial Crisis The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...

hit in 1997, the unstable Daewoo Group plummeted. It had to sell off nearly 50 division corporations, only focusing on the major companies. Kim was on the list of

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

when he was in exile, partly because of how he left Daewoo with the insurmountable debt, to his employees. He was arrested soon after he returned to South Korea on June 14, 2005, and apologized "for hurting the nation" and accepted full responsibility for the collapse of the group, adding that he was "ready to accept whatever the authorities have in store for him," according to the

Chosun Ilbo ''The Chosun Ilbo'' (, ) is a daily newspaper in South Korea and the oldest daily newspaper in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000, the ''Chosun Ilbo'' has been audited annually since the Audit Bureau of Circulations w ...

Criminal charges

In May 2006 he was sentenced to 10 years in jail after being found guilty of charges including embezzlement and accounting fraud. 21 trillion won ($22bn USD) of his fortune was seized and he was fined an additional 10 million won (about $10,000 USD). Citing health concerns, his sentence was reduced to 8 and 1/2 years; then on 30 December 2007, he was pardoned 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 between 2003 and 2008. Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for ...

. South Korean presidents traditionally hand out pardons for the new year.

Death

On December 9, 2019, Kim died due to

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

at Ajou University Hospital in Suwon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Woo-jung 1936 births 2019 deaths People from Daegu 20th-century South Korean businesspeople Yonsei University alumni South Korean Roman Catholics South Korean founders of automobile manufacturers Recipients of the Legion of Honour South Korean fraudsters Recipients of South Korean presidential pardons South Korean football executives South Korean football chairmen and investors Gwangsan Kim clan People convicted of embezzlement

Background

Daewoo

Criminal charges

Death

See also

References