January 26, 2000 
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| January 26, 2000 | atimes.com | |
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| The Koreas Public concern grows over Daewoo Motor sale SEOUL - With the settlement of debt recovery rates between Daewoo's domestic and foreign creditors, the next task for the government and domestic creditors is to concentrate on the sale of Daewoo Motor. Creditors will finalize procedures and conditions of the limited tender for the auto maker this month and send proposals to domestic and foreign companies. One buyer will be selected as preferential negotiator in March and talks thereafter will be in June, when a memorandum of understanding will be exchanged and the new owner of Daewoo Motor decided. With the schedule on the sale approaching, concern is growing over Daewoo Motor's sale to a foreign company, which is a high possibility at present. Voices calling for caution in dealing with Daewoo are also increasing. Some industry specialists say dealing with the nation's second-largest auto maker has been based on oversimplified logic by the government that selling it to a foreign company is in line with globalization. They are warning that the sale of Daewoo to a foreign buyer without public sympathy may arouse a severe backlash in Korea, adding that the auto industry heavily affects related sectors such as machinery, electronics and finance. The production of a single car promotes the manufacture of 2.93 other products. Total production of the domestic auto industry reached 4.4 trillion won ($3.9 billion) in 1998, or 10 percent of total manufacturing production. The government also fills 17.6 percent of its total revenues through auto-related taxes. The country's heavy reliance on the auto industry is also seen in the number of the people working in 1,079 auto parts companies nationwide of 1.67 million. Thus the sector employs 7 percent of all workers in Korea. Hyundai Motor, which is expected to take a huge hit if a foreign company buys Daewoo Motor, announced its opposition to sale to a foreign buyer. Similar sentiment is spreading throughout many other circles and have been expressed in newspapers and Web bulletins. (Asia Pulse/Yonhap) | |||||||||
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