Prosecution to auction former Daewoo chairman's properties

Prosecutors in Seoul are taking legal steps to sell confiscated assets of the founder and former chairman of the now-dismantled Daewoo Group in order to collect 17.9 trillion won ($15.7 billion) owed in forfeiture for fraud, officials said.

The Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office yesterday said it requested the state-run Korea Asset Management Co. (KAMCO) to open a bid for the disposal of the confiscated assets of Kim Woo-choong, who was found guilty last year of hiding about 115 billion won ($203 million) in property and violating foreign exchange law.

Daewoo, once South Korea's second-largest conglomerate, collapsed in 1999 under the weight of $80 billion in debt in the wake of the Asian financial crisis.

After years abroad as a fugitive, the ailing tycoon came back to the nation and served jail time for accounting fraud and embezzlement in 2006.

Kim's assets subject to forfeiture are worth 241.8 billion won by KAMCO's estimation, mainly composed of Daewoo affiliates' securities, prosecutors said.

The bid will be held from February 15-17.

"If the assets are sold off, it will be the largest confiscation ever," a prosecutor at the office said, noting the final contract price could change during the bidding procedure.