By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
About a decade ago, he was the king of his own business empire. Now he is an old man, who may be dreaming of a past glory revival as he said in his autobiography, the world is wide and there is lots of work to do.
Kim Woo-choong, 71, the founder and former chairman of the now-defunct Daewoo Group, was among the 75 convicted criminals, whom Cheong Wa-Dae gave a tradition year-end special amnesty to.
According to his confidants Tuesday, he is expected to fly to Vietnam sooner or later in search of ways that will ultimately lead to the restoration of his impaired reputation and the resumption of management activities.
``He often said that he would go to Vietnam when he is given a free hand,’’ said one of the sources. ``While in exile in Vietnam, he had been involved in national development projects in the Southeast Asian country.’’
Kim still enjoys some respect in Vietnam, as the people remember the past prosperity of Daewoo Group, which built skyscrapers and sold cars in the rapidly developing country.
Born in 1936 in Daegu, Kim once was a newspaper delivery boy who had to earn money for his family. After graduation from Yonsei University, he entered a small trading company, later specializing in textiles and clothing.
He broke off and created Daewoo Industries with only five people as his associates. Using his connections in both alumni and political support, he managed to do well to buy many different companies consecutively.
At that time, Kim seemed to be a magician as he was quit to turn near-bankrupt firms into successive cash machines. By the 1990s, with a company that had a history of 30 years, Daewoo Group was listed No. 2 on assets and No. 3 on revenues.
But his group collapsed all of a sudden due to its rather hollow financial structure when the 1997-98 financial crisis hit many Asian countries including South Korea. It had to sell off nearly 50 division corporations, only focusing on the major companies.
Daewoo Group went under in 1999 with debts of $82 billion, forcing the government to rescue its affiliated companies. Kim fled the country after being accused of having ordered his executives to lie in order to obtain loans.
He was on the list for the Interpol when he was in exile, as he was also accused of smuggling money overseas. It was not until June 2005 before he eventually returned home to face charges.
Kim was imprisoned after being sentenced to eight and a half years in jail in 2006 for embezzlement and accounting fraud. But one month later the court ordered the suspension of the sentence because of ill health.
Despite his misconduct, Kim’s ``global management’’ is said to be about 10 years ahead of other tycoons. Often called the ``Daewoo men,’’ workers of the group who crisscrossed the world in the past are also acknowledged as those with an indomitable spirit.
Former Daewoo people, including the Kim loyalists who were also given special presidential pardon, are likely to get together, according to some sources. But there is much work for Kim and his aides to do before making a comeback.
On top of the prison sentence, he was ordered to make restitution of 17.9 trillion won (roughly $18.2 billion) and pay 10 million won in fines. However, he has not paid a penny so far.