Daewoo
Defunct South Korean conglomerate / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Daewoo (UK: /ˈdeɪ.uː/ DAY-oo; US: /ˌdeɪˈwuː/ day-WOO; Korean: 대우; Hanja: 大宇; IPA: [tɛ.u]; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "dae" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerate) and automobile manufacturer.
Company type | Chaebol |
---|---|
Founded | 22 March 1967; 57 years ago (1967-03-22) |
Founder | Kim Woo-choong |
Defunct | 1 November 1999; 24 years ago (1999-11-01) |
Fate | Declared bankruptcy (see details) |
Headquarters | Seoul, South Korea |
Number of employees | 320,000[1][2] |
Divisions | |
Subsidiaries | |
Korean name | |
Hangul | 대우 |
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Daeu |
McCune–Reischauer | Taeu |
It was founded on 22 March 1967 as Daewoo Industrial and was declared bankrupt on 1 November 1999, with debts of about US$50 billion (equivalent to $91 billion in 2023). Prior to the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Daewoo was the second largest conglomerate in South Korea after the Hyundai Group. There were about 20 divisions under the Daewoo Group, some of which survived as independent companies.