South Korea - Fugitive Daewoo founder arrives in Seoul

Yonhap News Agency (South Korea) ^ | June 14, 2005

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YEONGJONGDO, South Korea, June 14 (Yonhap) -- Kim Woo-choong, founder of the now-defunct Daewoo Group, arrived Tuesday from Vietnam after being in hiding overseas for nearly six years, a return which is likely to touch off a heated debate over his contribution to the economy.

The 69-year-old former business tycoon, wearing a dark suit, looked tired and appeared along with investigators of the prosecution.

After being surrounded by hundreds of reporters and protesters, Kim was whisked to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office for the start of an investigation which is likely to ripple through the political and business communities.

Kim, accompanied by four people, including a doctor, a legal advisor and former Daewoo officials, issued a written statement expressing an apology for the collapse of his group.

He also said during his flight that "I return home to assume responsibility. I will tell more details after returning home and I'm tired because my health is not in good shape."

Kim has been in hiding overseas since October 1999 after South Korea's then second-biggest business group went bankrupt under an estimated US$80 billion of debt during the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98.

Although Kim had long been sought by the nation's prosecutor and even placed on an Interpol wanted list over charges of accounting fraud and tax evasion, he had managed to evade the international dragnet.

The former tycoon started a small trading company in 1967 with $5,000 in borrowed money. Three decades later, he had built it up into a massive conglomerate that included car manufacturing, electronics, shipbuilding, finance and a chain of hotels around the world, before it went belly up in the wake of the financial crisis.

Kim was found to have acquired French nationality in early 2003 and had since been spotted in Germany, the United States, Vietnam and the Sudan, among other places.

Immediately prior to returning to South Korea, Kim had been engaged in business projects of Daewoo affiliates in Vietnam, according to Kim Jong-yul, a legislator of the ruling Uri Party who had recently met the former business tycoon in Hanoi.

Daewoo Group was the first South Korean conglomerate to advance into Vietnam after the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992.

South Koreans are divided over the tycoon's achievements. Critics say he should be held accountable for his wrongdoing, while supporters claim the law enforcement authorities should grant him clemency, given the businessman's contribution to the national economy.

Last month, President Roh Moo-hyun granted a special amnesty to 31 businessmen convicted of bribery, accounting fraud and other criminal acts.

South Korea's family-controlled conglomerates, or chaebol, were dependent on and even subservient to political influence. They thrived on easy concessional loans in collusion with past military governments.

The South Korean government often gives special pardons to convicted criminals on major public holidays.