Kim Woo-choong, the founder and former chairman of collapsed conglomerate Daewoo (which included the car-making operation now owned by General Motors), and recently indicted on massive fraud charges, was recuperating on Tuesday after undergoing heart surgery, a hospital spokesman told the Associated Press (AP).
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Kim’s operation reportedly lasted nearly six hours at Severance Hospital in Seoul and he was routinely placed in intensive care following the surgery. Barring complications Kim was likely to move to a regular unit as early as Wednesday, the spokesman told AP.
The news agency noted that Kim, 69, fled South Korea in 1999 and returned in June – prosecutors indicted him on multi-trillion won (multi-billion dollar, multi-billion euro) charges of accounting fraud, illegal financing, and diverting funds out of the country.
Kim’s case was briefly suspended in mid-July when he was hospitalized for his heart condition, which was said to be life-threatening, AP added.
According to the report, it wasn’t immediately clear what impact the surgery would have on his case. The hospital spokesman said Kim was likely be hospitalised for a month and receive outpatient treatment for up to six months.
The Associated Press noted that, after starting as a textile salesman in 1967, Kim built an empire that came to stand among the largest ‘chaebol,’ or conglomerates, in South Korea, only to see it collapse with the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
The South Korean government was forced to accept a US$58 billion International Monetary Fund bailout due to the crisis, which rocked the country’s financial system and forced the conglomerates to reform, the report added.
Parts of Daewoo were broken up and sold, with General Motors acquiring a majority stake in Daweoo Motor to create GM Daewoo in 2002, AP said.
The Associated Press said Kim potentially faces up to life in prison, although it is unlikely he would serve a full sentence due to his age, former stature in South Korean society and public expression of regret upon his return to the country.
