Kim Woo-choong's Korean conglomerate borrowed its way to global reach, then collapsed on 1 November 1999 under ~$50 billion in debt — the largest bankruptcy in history at the time.
Born
1967 CE
Died
1999 CE
Lived
32 years
Dead for
27 yrs
At its peak
South Korea's 2nd-largest chaebol; ~$50 billion debt at collapse
Cause of death
Overreach
Replaced by
GM Daewoo, Daewoo Shipbuilding, and other split-off units
The Obituary
Daewoo began in 1967 as a small textile trading firm and grew under founder Kim Woo-choong into South Korea’s second-largest chaebol, with interests in cars, shipbuilding, electronics, and construction in about 100 countries. Its expansion was fueled by enormous borrowing, encouraged by close ties to the Korean government. When the 1997 Asian financial crisis dried up credit, the group could not service its debts. In 1999 it collapsed under roughly $50 billion in liabilities, the largest corporate bankruptcy the world had seen. It was broken up; its car unit was eventually absorbed by General Motors.
Worth remembering
It was South Korea's second-largest chaebol, spanning cars, ships, electronics, and construction.
Its collapse with about $50 billion in debt was the largest corporate bankruptcy in the world at the time.
Gallery
The Daewoo Building in front of Seoul Station, photographed in 1976Public domainDaewoo Express bus terminal in Bahawalpur, PakistanAmmarkh · CC BY-SA 3.0
Watch
Disgraced founder of Daewoo Group dies at 83 — AP Archive
Sources
The Daewoo Group collapsed in 1999 with about $50 billion in debt, then the largest corporate bankruptcy in history Wikipedia
Daewoo's collapse followed the 1997 Asian financial crisis and aggressive debt-financed expansion The New York Times
Daewoo, South Korea's second-largest chaebol with interests in about 100 countries, was declared bankrupt on 1 November 1999 under roughly US$50 billion in debt after expanding aggressively through the Asian financial crisis. Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business
A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.
Buried nearby — by shared fate or a neighbouring lifespan.
