By Kim Rahn
The late former chairman of Keangnam Enterprises, Sung Woan-jong, who set up his business with pocket money and went on to establish a company that exceeded 2 trillion won in sales, was almost penniless when he killed himself, sources said Wednesday.
His former aides say that Sung, a Korean example of a rags-to-riches success story, had almost no personal fortune at the time of his death, instead owing 200 billion won in bank loans.
But many observers of the scandal doubt if he was actually bankrupt because he allegedly embezzled company funds for personal use and for bribing politicians.
Sung, who didn't even finish elementary school due to the poverty of his family, came to Seoul at the age of 12 with almost nothing.
Following dozens of menial jobs, he acquired a construction firm in 1976 and took over Dae-a Engineering & Construction. He acquired Keangnam in 2003 and later led the company to record 2 trillion won in annual sales.
In April 2012 when he first became a lawmaker, he reported personal wealth of 15.2 billion won, the seventh largest among 300 lawmakers at that time. Most of his assets were stocks, including 3.4 million shares in Keangnam and 740,000 shares in Dae-a Leisure, a Keangnam subsidiary.
Keangnam's stock price fell from 6,000 won in 2012 to 3,500 won in 2013 as the company fell into a debt-workout program. His wealth in turn almost halved to 7 billion won in 2013. He also left all his shares to creditor banks as securities.
When he lost his National Assembly seat for violations of the Election Law in 2014, he reported that he was 700 million won in debt.
Sung did not have a house registered in his name. A house in affluent Cheongdam-dong in southern Seoul, where he lived until he committed suicide, is worth over 2 billion won and is owned by his wife.
The only property he owned was some 17,000 square meters of land in South Chungcheong Province, with a value estimated at 280 million won.
However, speculation is rife that he had various other hidden assets, as the company funds he is thought to have embezzled through accounting fraud were allegedly diverted to Keangnam affiliates owned by members of his family.
The late former chairman of Keangnam Enterprises, Sung Woan-jong, who set up his business with pocket money and went on to establish a company that exceeded 2 trillion won in sales, was almost penniless when he killed himself, sources said Wednesday.
His former aides say that Sung, a Korean example of a rags-to-riches success story, had almost no personal fortune at the time of his death, instead owing 200 billion won in bank loans.
But many observers of the scandal doubt if he was actually bankrupt because he allegedly embezzled company funds for personal use and for bribing politicians.
Sung, who didn't even finish elementary school due to the poverty of his family, came to Seoul at the age of 12 with almost nothing.
Following dozens of menial jobs, he acquired a construction firm in 1976 and took over Dae-a Engineering & Construction. He acquired Keangnam in 2003 and later led the company to record 2 trillion won in annual sales.
In April 2012 when he first became a lawmaker, he reported personal wealth of 15.2 billion won, the seventh largest among 300 lawmakers at that time. Most of his assets were stocks, including 3.4 million shares in Keangnam and 740,000 shares in Dae-a Leisure, a Keangnam subsidiary.
Keangnam's stock price fell from 6,000 won in 2012 to 3,500 won in 2013 as the company fell into a debt-workout program. His wealth in turn almost halved to 7 billion won in 2013. He also left all his shares to creditor banks as securities.
When he lost his National Assembly seat for violations of the Election Law in 2014, he reported that he was 700 million won in debt.
Sung did not have a house registered in his name. A house in affluent Cheongdam-dong in southern Seoul, where he lived until he committed suicide, is worth over 2 billion won and is owned by his wife.
The only property he owned was some 17,000 square meters of land in South Chungcheong Province, with a value estimated at 280 million won.
However, speculation is rife that he had various other hidden assets, as the company funds he is thought to have embezzled through accounting fraud were allegedly diverted to Keangnam affiliates owned by members of his family.
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