Daewoo Founder Guilty Again, Stays Out of Jail

Kim Woo-choong had been convicted for fraud in one of the biggest corporate bankruptcies in history.

South Korean court sentenced the founder of the Daewoo conglomerate to 18 months in prison on Thursday for trying to avoid paying billions of dollars in fines but let him stay out of jail for showing remorse.

Kim Woo-choong, 71, who was once admired as a hero for turning a small textiles firm into a conglomerate that at its peak employed about 320,000 people in 110 countries, had been convicted for fraud in one of the biggest corporate bankruptcies in history.

That 2006 conviction stemming from the fall of Daewoo led to an 8-½ year prison term later suspended because of Kim's failing health. He was then pardoned by the president.

The Seoul Central District Court sentenced him to a year and a half in prison on the fresh charge of trying to hide more than 100 billion won ($87 million) in assets but suspended it for two years. Prosecutors were seeking a year in jail, suspended for two years.

Kim, looking frail in a wheelchair and wearing a hospital gown, declined to say if he would appeal the conviction.

He has told the court he felt a heavy sense of responsibility, while local media quoted prosecutors as saying they felt Kim's crime was unintended.

Kim is the latest in a series of current and former South Korean business tycoons who avoided prison or had their jail terms cut sharply, which has sparked criticism that judges in the country give preferential treatment to white collar criminals.