The former chairman of collapsed conglomerate Daewoo has had his prison sentence reduced.

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A Seoul appeals court on Friday sentenced Kim Woo-choong to eight and a half years in prison on a range of charges including embezzlement and accounting fraud and also ordered him to forfeit 18 trillion won ($US19bn) and pay a fine of 10 million won ($10,700), the Associated Press (AP) reported.


The sentence reportedly was less severe than a lower-court ruling in May, when he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was ordered to forfeit more than 21 trillion won ($22bn).


The report said the court reduced the sentence in consideration of Kim’s contribution to South Korea’s economic development and because many South Koreans “still remember him as a respectable entrepreneur who raised the country’s status”.


Kim was indicted in June last year on charges of multi-trillion won (multibillion dollar) accounting fraud, illegal financing and diverting funds out of the country. He was also accused of embezzlement and breach of trust, AP said, adding that he was found guilty of the charges, including over 20 trillion won in accounting fraud, 9.8 trillion won worth of illegal financing, and diverting 19 trillion won out of the country, according to the ruling. He was also found to have embezzled $100m.

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Kim fled the country in 1999, living mostly in France, until returning to South Korea last June to face charges, AP said.


Daewoo collapsed under massive debts in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, when the South Korean government was forced to accept a $58bn International Monetary Fund bailout, the report added.


Parts of Daewoo were broken up and sold, and General Motors acquired a major stake in Daewoo Motor to create GM Daewoo in 2002.


The Korean automaker’s cars are now mostly sold outside Korea badged as Chevrolets.