Daewoo founder again in court; seeks pardon for stashing away assets

13 August 2008

Mumbai: Kim Woo-choong, the founder of South Korea's now-defunct Daewoo group, was again in the court today, admitting to hiding assets worth millions of dollars and pleading for leniency.

Appearing in court months after he was pardoned over one of the world's largest corporate failures, Kim Woo-Choong, 72, said, ''I don't know how much time I have left to live, but on this occasion I give my pledge to lead an exemplary life.'' 

Kim pleaded guilty to hiding assets worth 115 billion won ($111 million), reserved in the form of shares with Best Ltd Co (previously Daewoo Development), to avoid their forfeiture under a court order.

Investigators found stocks and 134 artworks worth more than 100 billion won that Kim had hidden following a probe into the alleged 1998 bribing by Cho Poong-eon, a Korean-American military weapons dealer, who wanted to help prevent Daewoo from going bankrupt and protect Kim from prison.

Kim's defence attorney also pleaded for leniency, saying he has been behind bars for false accounting and his hiding of wealth was related to a crime for which he had already been punished.

Prosecutors sought a one-year suspended jail term with a two-year stay of execution for the Daewoo Group founder. They also demanded a fine of seven million won on his former secretary for hiding documents.