The Debt-Fueled Collapse of Korea’s Daewoo Group

[@capmidnite]

When you owe $1 million to the bank, it's your problem. When you owe $100 million to the bank, it's the bank's problem.

[@MagnathorSonofArmok]

rofl

[@armchairwomanmao2922]

Sounds like Softbank

[@NVM_SMH]

Closer to 100 billion. Then it's the countries problem.

[@tamakaze712]

@@NVM_SMH sri lanka ahh moment

[@mrwideboy]

Thats trumps philosophy

[@herrerasauro7429]

Honestly, these videos on Korean corruption scandals and the conditions leading up to today are absolutely enlighntening, even as someone who majored in economics and even back then found the academic explanations about it absurdly lacking. This paints a much more interesting and complete picture about the conditions leading up to the 99 asian "tigers" crash. Honestly, your videos absurdy insightful.

[@thor8086]

Haha, this video is not insightful. This is very superficial view of non-Korean cultured and non-geopolitical person retelling someone else's story. It is an interesting story though. This video seems like a Korean speaking Chinese/Manchurian doing some research in Korean, then Taiwanese editor editing and presenting in English kind of documentary. Bit like Mexican American researching Bombadier Group in Canada then Panamanian KZbinr presenting to German audiences. Asianometry should focus on Chinese stories. Caspian Report makes same mistakes doing geopolitics report on American countries from Central Asian perspective.

[@mellowInventor]

@@thor8086 Others' views are appreciated even if some of the finer details are inaccurate. There is going to be a fuzziness to the truth of any report, even from someone local reporting in local language.

[@gawdsuniverse3282]

@@thor8086 so do you disagree with the core story being told here?

[@unknowninfinium4353]

Economics is fun but dont you get the usual attacks from socialist who has a problem with eveyrthing? And spin this narrative to their favour?

[@haberdasherrykr8886]

@@thor8086 good comment

[@m.a.9571]

Daewoo's history is like one huge bruh moment one over the other.

[@humorss]

seems like child play comparing to Chinese Stateowns.

[@ze2411]

lol

[@vasiliymedvedev1532]

They only bright moment is daewoo matiz

[@Ferocious_Imbecile]

Asianometry is one of the finest news sources on the entire www. Excellent work

[@Ferocious_Imbecile]

@@Pepe-dq2ib Intredasting. Thx.

[@megalonoobiacinc4863]

@@Pepe-dq2ib obviously Trump didn't sacrifice tens of millions of people for his own ego but they might still have character traits in common, don't know which video tho

[@TheGreatAtario]

Uh… this isn't news, though

[@Ferocious_Imbecile]

@@TheGreatAtario The arcane politics of asian corporations is a subject that's pretty much off the charts to western news media so effectively it is new to me and thus it's news.

[@antoniolewis1016]

@@TheGreatAtario It's news to me even if it happened 30 years ago.

[@gmren14]

I'm Peruvian (South America) and my family had a Daewoo Racer car from the year 94. We had it for 20 years until we sold it in 2014. That car was the most reliable, resistant, and durable and never had an engine problem more than the periodic maintenance that every car needs, but with it we crossed the Andes mountain range on multiple occasions, reaching almost five thousand meters above sea level (16,404 feet above sea level). We even have the photos of our last day with him.

[@BodyDestruction]

Kind of makes sense. It was a 10 year old Opel Kadett at that point (plenty of time to work out reliability issues), and didn't have the 3 smallest engines available, so nothing was really overstressed. The Opels were still driving around in Europe long after the Astra replaced them.

[@pocketanime]

In Chile we can still see some Daewoo Racers, not in good shape sadly.

[@navyseal1689]

How about new Daewoo car performance

[@BodyDestruction]

@@navyseal1689 new Daewoo? Daewoo has been defunct for 20 years, a Daewoo Racer is a Pontiac Lemans / Opel Kadett E / Asüna GT / Passport Optima / ... but not an actual race car. Daewoo never had sporty or performance cars, the more powerful engines were only available in Opel / Vauxhall and Pontiac.

[@gmren14]

@@BodyDestruction Wow! Thanks for that information. I didn't know that to be honest. I always thought that they were made entirely in Korea, regardless of whether they had bought factories in other countries with which to produce their vehicles. But what you say makes a lot of sense because having chosen a car like the Opel Kadett, which already had assured reliability in its engines, assured them a victory in other markets, without the need for Opel itself to bring its cars to this part of the world again (because they had a genuinely brief time in my country). It is similar to what the Renault group does with Dacia since many Dacia models are sold here under the Renault logo and are the best sellers.

[@MicaelSG23]

I was a teen when I heard the news of Daewoo collapse. I knew almost nothing of the company, being a Brazillian, but i remember some of its computer monitors. However, what I never forgot was the scenes of angry korean workers throwing molotov cocktails into police offficers during protests. It was insane. I still have that image in my head.

[@jthunders]

They were a threat to our democracy just like the Jan 6 protesters

[@the_kombinator]

That collapse took out Daewoo-FSO, a Polish car manufacturer. The last Polonezes were sold in 2002, they pushed with the Matiz (which I have - great little car!) out of factories until 2006, and after that, FSO became no more. They're actually selling the land and thinking rezoning the land.

[@boypisonetpisonet981]

your country is next to roll-up

[@the_kombinator]

@@boypisonetpisonet981 Not sure which country and what the generic term means. Might as well have replied with lightbulb Wednesday.

[@bobsickle2336]

​@@the_kombinator "being a Brazilian" Come on man, you're not even quoted in the response. Not everything is about you.

[@davesprivatelounge]

I love that large corporations have proved time and time again thst they are the largest "moral hazards"

[@roymarshall_]

It seems to me like the lesson here is that a government-backed corporation is the largest moral hazard. The government fueled all of this from the start. Daewoo wouldn't have been much of anything without a massive amount of government backing and corruption.

[@juniorleslie4804]

It is not the size of corporations, but the size of the corresponding debt liabilities, that get business in trouble. Why does this happen?, The burdens of that debt, means the company has to sell a lot of goods and services to service the debt. If for any reason, it is unable to do so. The financial crises that results. Then the company has to be liquidated at huge losses, and layoffs. Much hand ringing come out of the restructurings, but if you want to stop this. The used of debt as a based currency has to stop.

[@tomlxyz]

They aren't the largest moral harard, they're the ones most likely to engage in such behaviour because they're more likely to be bailed out.

[@tomlxyz]

@@juniorleslie4804 But that's unrelated to moral hazards. Besides that, the size of the debt isn't important either. The only thing important is if the resulting intrest payments exceed the profit margin. If the company is considered low risk they can take out huge loans and still be profitable. On the other side, if the company engages in risky businesses even low debt levels can screw them over because of high intrest rates or creditors becoming restless

[@TheSultan1470]

No

[@TTGIII]

Could you please do a video on super-complicated cross-ownership structures of Asian conglomerates?

[@thor8086]

You mean Chinese not Asian conglomerates. Japanese and South Korean are not as complicated as Chinese conglomerates. Chinese conglomerates are hard to tell if they are Chinese, Taiwan or Singaporean among other shell companies in dozen other South Asian countries. I heard only US Treasury department has accurate working relationships of various Chinese conglomerates. Maybe CCP also knows or maybe CCP is the ones controlling them.

[@capmidnite]

I'm still trying to figure out how 1% control of a typical Korean company translates to a controlling interest in the whole group by the founding family. I "get" how cross-holding works in theory but why would the other shareholders put up with this arrangement?

[@wesleynishi6081]

@@thor8086 Not at all. Korean Chaebols are extremely complicated. Cross shareholding ensuring family's keep control of the entire business. Japan was similar with old Sumitomo, Mitsubishi etc. but today not so much family conglomerates, it is now banks that own shares in all these companies as collateral for loans. This has led to inefficiencies and lending because of ownership rather than business case etc. Korea and Japan definitely has issues with crossownership issuss

[@wesleynishi6081]

@@capmidnite It's more than 1%. And other shareholders dont like it. There have been lawsuits from hedge funds and even Korea's National Pension Service. In essence if subsidiary A owns 20% of Subsidiary B who owns 70% of Subsidiary C that owns 40% of Subsidiary D that owns 60% of Subsidiary A, Subsidiary B elects family members to Subsidiary C. Subsidiary C does the same for Subsidiary D with enough control of total shares. Subsidiary D does the same to Subsidiary A. And while subsidiary A has less control of B, perhaps Subsidiary A buys a ton from Subsidiary B and if they dont elect family.members in subsidiary B, they will stop the purchases, so shareholders in subsidiary B still eLect family members.

[@sidewinder3422]

@@capmidnite Search about a Hedge Fund called Elliot and Paul Singer, they tried to prevent a merger or smthin to solidify Lee family's control in Samsung, they failed turned out the government got bribed, this is one of the reason the South Korean got impeached in 2017.

[@recoverhealth2062]

My father flipped a Daewoo Tico in Romania while dead drunk in the early 2000, the car landed on its roof, he somehow survived, amazing that he did survive since those cars were made out of toilet paper and aluminum foil + glue.

[@jyy9624]

Fun fact Tico was made by Daewoo Heavy, the only Daewoo car that is so

[@HEMI345S]

Because he was wearing his motorcycle 🪖

[@zurinarctus1329]

Kim Woo-choong later fled to Vietnam and enjoyed a good life there. He was instrumental to advise Samsung and many Korean chaebols settling in Vietnam.

[@jyy9624]

Then he went to Korea and jail

[@zeitgeistx5239]

Hooray for Communism.

[@thor8086]

Zarin, does Zeff Bezos seek advice from Tim Cook or Elon Musk or Donald Trump? What makes you think other Korean chaebols will talk to WC Kim?

[@zurinarctus1329]

@@jyy9624 After jail, he spent most of his time in Vietnam before his death.

[@jyy9624]

@@zurinarctus1329 I didn't know that - he was undone by the same stubborn refusal to give up that powered his rise. Senior managers in the Daewoo group had unusual clout due to the young age of Kim's children and a lack of share parking relatives, but their counsel for reduce aggressiveness fell on deaf years and in some cases even led to their replacement

[@exidy-yt]

Wow, I remember a time in the mid-late 1990s when Daewoo Electronics/Daytek were one of the most prolific PC component makers around, especially with monitors. It was almost impossible to find a low-end PC bundle that didn't include a 14" Daytek monitor from 1992-1998 or so, at least here in Canada. The only other option was to upscale yourself into a Sony or NEC 17" jobbie. I honestly didn't realize they had fallen so hard so long ago, I thought they had merely been supplanted in the North American market by Lucky Goldstar/LG and then later Samsung. Great article!

[@BAIGAMING]

SAME! I always wondered why they disappeared randomly, I always assumed that they were bought out by Samsung.

[@campbellpaul]

The economics of the Korean business model is a fascinating topic that deserves better understanding. I've read about it through recent decades and it still holds true for some of the more well known companies today with their small profit margins and cheaply made products resulting in poor customer service and limited warranties that can be upsetting to some buyers looking for quality products at a discount. A topic of further interest is the school-to-work programs that Korea has incorporated into its survival as a nation. Monumental undertakings that the average American doesn't consider or even conceive of. Much praise for your documentary videos on Korea!

[@nickfifteen]

I'm somewhat jealous of my Korean cousins who were able to get really nice jobs because their system has all that baked in. In a way they don't really have to worry about finding and getting work. The 60 hr work weeks, on the other hand...

[@blackbelt2000]

I remember when GM somehow got suckered into buying the Daewoo car company. GM's leadership wasn't the best and brightest back then....not that it is today either.

[@qorje]

Thanks!

[@SithLord2066]

Ssang Yong Motor is where the Squid Game main character dude used to work. There was a strike at the factory (which actually happened in real life) and he joined the other workers during the strike and got beat up by riot police.

[@seth_deegan]

The "familial" relationship chaebols have with the public and the government are disgusting. This type of failure is the consequence of such.

[@fxsrider]

This some of the most interesting content on YT. I have been binge watching this channel. Great job!!

[@tetchuma]

Fun fact: The first-Gen Chevrolet Cruze, was originally designed as an update to the Daewoo Lacetti. After GM acquired Daewoo, all they did was some minimal ‘Chevy’ badging, a different grille, different engine and different steering wheel. Everything else had been designed, engineered and prototyped in South Korea. So essentially, the “American-built” Chevy Cruze was actually a CKD (Complete Knock-Down) that was assembled in the US from parts made in South Korea.

[@xander1052]

the Chevrolet Matiz is another fun result of this, as is the Chevy Lacetti (what the Cruze was sold as here in the UK) of top gear fame. Pretty much most Chevrolets sold in the UK in the past 20 years were Daewoos.

[@ijustfelldown]

@@xander1052 they sold the Matiz with the Daewoo badge in India. Funnily enough, a lot of people thought Matiz was the company and Daewoo was the model name. Almost all cars sold in India around 90s and early 2000s had the company names on the left and model name on the right of the boot lid. Daewoo did the opposite and didn't stay relevant in the market so average people had no idea about the company. And so it became the "Matiz Daewoo".

[@DM-hw4cr]

That motor was garbage

[@tetchuma]

@@DM-hw4cr Sadly, the engine was American-made; so it’s easy to assume it would be a horrible motor…

[@timothydevries383]

The Chevy Trailblazer is still made by GM Korea.

[@geneballay9590]

Another greaaaaaat video. I well remember the Asian Financial Crisis but did not know about the role of individual company financials in that crisis. Thank you for all the work, and for sharing.

[@the_kombinator]

Hah, ask a middle aged Korean about the IMF - they will get very angry. Less angry than mentioning Japan, but angry nonetheless.

[@keno77]

Asianometry, you have amazing videos on many subjects, you got your self a new subscriber, keep it up.

[@ulyks]

LOL "My dad used to say: find a girl that loves you as much as Daewoo loves debt" I havent laughed this hard all month!

[@jyy9624]

I worked for Daewoo Securities and my father worked for KDB - KDB received Daewoo Heavy and Daewoo Securities during the breakup

[@bryansmith9231]

I wish I knew what happened to Daewoo Electronics, and then you had this show. Thank you.

[@ferminromero2602]

Well done documentary. I always wondered what happened to Daewoo. A relative used to work there. Narration is accurate. English and Korean language words are spoken perfectly. This guy knows what he's talking about.

[@imnothere6906]

Banger of a quote! "My father always told me: Find someone who loves you as much as Daewoo loves debt."

[@filippkhan3935]

Old school. Most people my age have never even heard of Daewoo and I dont blame them. They used to be the Samsung of their day.

[@thor8086]

Umm Samsung began decades earlier than Daewoo and Samsung was largest conglomerate in Korea when Daewoo got big.

[@capmidnite]

There are still older apartment complexes in South Korea with the Daewoo logo on them.

[@krishnanunnimadathil8142]

This is MBA study material. Very good!👍 There are echoes of Daewoo’s story in conglomerates all across the world, including in India, where one Adani Group has come out from virtually nowhere to hog the headlines. Like Daewoo and the chaebol, Adani is heavily invested (possibly debt-fuelled) in all those sectors favored by the government. Like Daewoo, Adani is headed by a maverick chief with legendary risk-taking nous. Revenue over profit is the name of the game. And, it seems the underlying assumption there as well is a bailout by the government in case things go ape-sh*t. Why pick on just Adani, however? India’s conglomerates are all littered with businessmen who got lucky and struck big followed by handshakes with political bigwigs, including the Birla who were chummy with Mahatma Gandhi (yes), Tata who were chums with the British as well as the INC, TVS and several others who were all chums with ruling authorities. Maybe that’s just the way business is. The problem, as you rightly pointed out, is the moral hazard which this causes, and the feeling that the government ie taxpayer will bail you out regardless of your follies, and this leads to people taking stupid decisions and not paying for the consequences. It also hinders innovation and dulls the spur to improve. There are echoes also of the financial crisis of 2008, where big banks essentially got bailed out at the taxpayers expense, creating the biggest moral hazard in that economy.

[@jirehla-ab1671]

does lessening government regulations when it comes to the free market is better?

[@thany3]

I don't understand why these chairmen assume the government will bail them out. Any chance of going under and a government should just say "bad luck" and carry on keeping an open market, instead of a public funding fueled corrupted market that no citizen asked for. When a system has a component that is detrimental to the system as a whole, that component should be either removed, or allowed to die. Such misbehaving component should never be allowed any help in persuing its venomous endeavours, and promises it makes should be taken with a well-earned portion of distrust. This rule applies to computer systems, teams within businesses, and indeed the financial world. It even applies in biology, where the comparison with a tumor seems valid.

[@MrAnonymousRandom]

@@jirehla-ab1671 The variable being discussed is how fair the system is. License raj or deregulated, if the system can be gamed by bribing politicians, it doesn't make that much of a difference from an opportunity access standpoint.

[@manishkumarpandey9702]

Ambani with INC too

[@John900C]

As a citizen of the UK I see a desire of our politicians to create a similar corrupt bubble economy.

[@rainzoro]

Woochoong Kim started his career as a salesman and he was good at it. In his mind, the act of selling was more important, and the country’s evergrowing economy and endless government backing fueled his optimitism and business philosophy: quantity over quality. Meanwhile Samsung took the opposite approach and it paid off

[@Dwightstjohn-fo8ki]

So does LG, which dominates the appliance market. LG had some new high end washer with a few incidents, then sent a team to Canada (Vancouver) and I helped them swap out all the control modules. LG wanted to get and maintain a reputation for quality, and it paid off. LG is now everywhere .

[@stephenw2992]

I remember when LG and Samsung were low end brands, but were still substantially better than Daewoo which wasnt much better than Chinese stuff. I never thought that one day I would pay good money for a Samsung phone.

[@the_kombinator]

@@Dwightstjohn-fo8ki I remember when they were Goldstar - I had a Goldstar VGA monitor, and a Datatrain up until recently (IIRC that was a rebranded Goldstar, made in Suwon)

[@the_kombinator]

@@stephenw2992 Daewoo made decent cars though. They tend to be easy to maintain and cheap to run. I have a 23 year old Daewoo and I have had very little problems with it over the last decade.

[@oldcynic6964]

@@the_kombinator You may be one of the lucky ones. Many more reviews and comments have said how poor they are. I know people are more likely to post comments complaining, rather than praising, but even so ...

[@krystiankur5275]

I also like the new Keynote features and love that you are bold with experimenting with them. One piece of advice I would give you is to think about how the visual appearance contributes to the narrative/story, it would definitely elevate your content ;)

[@miguelfrancovieira]

I was thinking the same thing. Also you should try to match the video background with the picture's own (like if the picture uses a white bg, try using it instead of the default black screen) and if it's not too bold, try and upscale the images you use so they can fit the screen entirely.

[@ChadPANDA...]

Daewoo is similar to adani group in india. I will surely watch your video in 3 years about rise and fall of adani group 👍

[@0deepak]

Well, the bhakts are making him a god, because he is the 2nd richest billionaire. I think he might get bailed out by our tax money.

[@ChadPANDA...]

@@0deepak no one is making him a god . Stop with your culture war bs and touch grass. Mfs when they can't understand adani group got his start under DMK and congress ruled state . He just payed bjp alot through 2019 electoral reforms . He won't bailed out as his debt is majority in bond market .

[@anime0965]

Can somebody here give me a small overview about the similarities between Daewoo and Adani group?

[@sympathiser_of_Germans_in_40s]

@@anime0965 similar cooperate structure and massive debt.

[@sympathiser_of_Germans_in_40s]

@@0deepak that's probably happening only in your head.

[@capmidnite]

Ssang Yong is a very niche Korean automaker, largely unknown outside of South Korea. However, in the early 1990s Mercedes Benz found them good enough to do some technology and platform sharing with them. Ssang Yong's Chairman sedan is based on the E-class and their SUVs used MB drivetrains.

[@tiagomnlmnl]

they were a pretty big deal for a time in the Philippines.

[@SportyMabamba]

Seeing more of them in the UK over the past few years

[@ijustfelldown]

Ssangyong made a partnership with Mahindra motors in India to sell their Rexton SUV but they flopped very hard.

[@ntabile]

The Mercedes vans made by Ssangyong easily breaks down according to the Mecedes repaire centers.

[@benjiunofficial]

They were prominently advertised in Australia for a time, but I never saw many on the roads.

[@TurboHappyCar]

Great video! I hope that the industry can learn from frauds like these and improve. My completely irrelevant experience with Daewoo was when I worked at an electronics store and one of my coworkers dropped a Daewoo television. He put it back on the shelf and gave me the advice, "Don't buy a Daewoo." 😂

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Reminded one of my DVD players was a Daewoo.

[@piotrmalewski8178]

We have a TV set and used to have Daewoo Nubira. Both were ok. and the Nubira actually took a lot of severe punishment but just kept going. Even when II-gen Liquid Petriolium Gas installation malfunctioned, gas exploded and made a hole in the bonnet, it just kept going. Even the sensors didn't die, just the pipe that exploded.

[@TurboHappyCar]

@@piotrmalewski8178 Improved ventilation. 😂

[@csinalabama]

Daewoo is an interesting story. I lived in Korea during the 80's when the big 3 electronics companies in Korea were Samsung, Lucky Gold Star (now LG) and Daewoo. The best products came from Daewoo (tv's electronics, etc.) and the junk came from Samsung and Lucky Gold Star. It didn't matter though, because Koreans all bought Samsung and Lucky Gold Star. The reason was because Koreans said Daewoo was really Japanese and American owned and the other two were Korean owned.

[@httm241]

I guess you can replace Daewoo with Lotte now

[@silverianjannvs5315]

Yes, Samsung electronics are real junk & crap.

[@csinalabama]

@@silverianjannvs5315 The mid 80's were a long time ago. LG and Samsung make good products

[@teeferzs]

​@@silverianjannvs5315 Samsung Electronics used to be, because they mostly rebadged appliances from other companies back then, their TVs in the Us are mostly locally manufactured with rebadge. That ended recently tho.

[@SINfromPL]

When i hear daewoo, i think of cheap small cars and vacuum cleaners. Not sure if either of those existed. But the name itself was always far below brands like Sanyo or Panasonic

[@Danny-gg9gs]

What's sanyo?

[@djdrastic1]

@@Danny-gg9gs You don't know about Sanyo ?

[@Danny-gg9gs]

@@djdrastic1 No. Should I?

[@archieames1968]

@@Danny-gg9gs they make rice cookers I think

[@mauriciosolano9342]

@@Danny-gg9gs they were a huge company back in the days Its like, Samsung going poor in the next 5 years

[@UllahMohd]

Awesome narration!

[@anonviewerciv]

Quantity over quality. (8:48) 1:45 Humble beginnings. 3:30 Expansionary phase. 10:25 Setbacks. 19:49 Cooking the books.

[@PersimmonHurmo]

They used to be ubiquitous in my country, Uzbekistan, and then they disappeared, so suddenly... I was a kid back then, it was so weird. They were so big and important, they had a total monopoly, and then one day they are gone... All the cars turned into Chevy's...

[@zemunboy]

Superb content and production. I like how your stock footage is relevant and it’s archival nature. Well done, bravo encore🎉😊

[@baredesigns1]

Soon happening in India too. Adani is very similar to Daewoo

[@conorwoodside3984]

This was an excellent overview of the Daewoo Contagion, and presented without an overt bias too! Rare meme on this site.

[@GibbonsTake]

Contagion? Meme? What the hell are you talking about

[@ether23-23]

@@GibbonsTake Possible bot? Who the hell knows.

[@GibbonsTake]

@@ether23-23 I over reacted maybe the comment is translated awkwardly lol

[@ajvansickle]

Excellent content as always!

[@Socrates21stCentury]

Really nice review!

[@mickvonbornemann3824]

I remember when you bought a Daewoo car you got a free Daewoo telly or microwave in the boot.

[@boycottnok1466]

You should make a video about collapse of 90s best quality appliances and home electronics company in the world Sanyo. They were once around 90s and early 00s best in battery, display and some semiconductors too. I still think of sanyo every now and then and feel sad.

[@mrmrmrcaf7801]

My dad had a Daewoo Leganza and my mom had a Daewoo Cielo.I took my drivers licence in a Daewoo Tico😀 and few years later I bought a SsangYong Musso ,it was a good car.Daewoo will remain in my heart as long as I live.

[@HassanUmer]

Today I found out Daewoo is originally a Korean businesss! lol. They're a popular inter city carrier/transport company in Pakistan too

[@allergischaufdasrontgen7644]

Kudos man

[@aylyi-huh9355]

impressed with the pronunciation of some names 👏

[@BhavinTolia]

Daewoo had a car named #Matiz. That small car looked absolutely cute. They were known for fuel pump issues, but the company was very supportive

[@andrewblake2254]

They sold many cars in Australia, usually under GM label. Mostly they were outdated, indifferent quality and not much liked by people.

[@raylopez99]

Cars, like wine, are a good way to make a small fortune...if you start with a large fortune.

[@William-Morey-Baker]

@@raylopez99 thats not really accurate... they do have a huge upfront cost, but those industries are massively profitable.

[@JasperKlijndijk]

the matiz was the car of my parents when i was born until i was 12. always a special place in my hearth

[@andrewallen9993]

They were opel cars made in Korea.

[@liveonflow6976]

In India , I have seen abandoned Daewoo car in many city. I always thought the logo was cool and they were a premium brand. Which failed as they were expensive .how wrong was I. Thanks asianometry for the insight.

[@mceajc]

The mind boggles at the sums involved. Makes one wonder how many other companies there are out there sneaking under the radar using similar fraudulent methods to stay afloat. Fascinating look at a speedrun from zero to hero and back again.

[@katbryce]

In the UK, Polly Peck and Robert Maxwell's business empire had similar stories.

[@Drakorvich]

when I was younger I had a Daewoo brand 13" CRT TV, that thing was super resilient and even survived being thrown on the ground screen first several times (not my own doing) in the end what broke it was the power cable being severed from the unit itself, and that probably could've been fixed tbh

[@joonkim202]

EVERY STREET IS PAVED WITH GOLD! - Kim Woojung was my hero and he epitomized Korean business tenacity and go get it attitude. Too bad it all ended badly. Thank you for the memories.

[@sleepyearth]

Too bad he is bad businessman who steals money not only from his company but also from taxpayers when he keep expecting bailouts. His go get attitude all stems from govt connections and bribes. Nothing special.

[@JerryBoland2014]

Great work 👍👍🤘 thanks

[@aliimran5503]

Daewoo was the first company to introduce luxury buses in Pakistan. Everybody wanted to travel thorough Daewoo once in their life those days.

[@anasevi9456]

Here in Australia, you still see a fair amount of Daewoo cars from the collapse period. They were actually pretty nice, better quality interior than the typical Japanese compact of the time with lots of soft touch and good fit and finish, and their engines and gearboxes are obviously robust as most survivors are well over 250k km on the tach and obviously a lot still drive despite looking clapped out half the time. I actually do not see as many corollas and hondas from the time, and I own a 2016 corolla ascent sport and i love those cars.

[@hydrolifetech7911]

I've seen a few SsangYong SUVs here in Kenya too and they run well. Their factory paint, fit and finish also look robust still

[@baronvonjo1929]

What is a Corolla Ascent Sport? I'm so confused because there is a Subaru Ascent.

[@johanmetreus1268]

My Toyota Camry from 2000 is still rolling in daily use :)

[@stephenw2992]

I saw a lot of them on Gumtree with major issues with the motors. Havent seen any on the road lately. Their electronics were also low quality and there was even a TV model that caught fire.

[@the_kombinator]

I have a 1999 Matiz (Imported from Korea, in Canada) and it's so reliable. I don't drive it in the winter so it doesn't look like swiss cheese - excellent fuel efficiency.

[@Andergrin]

I am still have Daewoo fridge, it's working perfectly for 16 years

[@capmidnite]

Most older fridges from any manufacturer tend to last.

[@MrLukealbanese]

Excellent channel with very good quality documentaries. Well done.

[@anderslarsson1256]

Great video! My vessel Titus left Okpo in 1994 and I sailed her until 2000. Greetings from Sweden!

[@abhishekparmar6702]

As someone who's studied economics both academically and as personal passion since 2009, all this looks par for the course. All i have to say is TYPICAL!

[@ghhhit9228]

watching this and with the latest reports on adani group of India, I see a lot of red flags and disaster loading up that might shake entire india.

[@Mladjasmilic]

13:33 I have exact same picture of FSO, with my old Daewoo Lanos. I loved that car.

[@ShotGunner5609]

Amazing videos. Thank you for all the work you put into these!

[@boots7859]

Would really like to see your take on the Chinese Real Estate snafu. From sources I read, it really sounds like the US 2008 Sub-prime recession squared.

[@wangchangsheng1184]

No, It's totally different

[@TheBandit7613]

It's WAY worse. The housing itself is even a fraud. Buildings built without plumbing or electric... just a shell. The whole market based on fraud. Just like China's stock market.

[@CalculusVariations99]

I worked for Daewoo Motors in 1999. I mean, I was just a car lot attendant and it was my 1st job out of high school, but even then....the company didn't make much sense and a lot of their ventures failed compared to those other mega corps from Korea.

[@Rich77UK]

Very interesting and well made video. Thank you for the insight.

[@tcat0211]

I worked for an investment bank holding the largest loan to Daewoo by a foreign banking institution until the government decided to let it die. At peak they were paying on average, excess of 19% in interest over 200M usd. Signs were obvious but the greed overcame any common sense. Many heads rolled all the way to HQ afterwards.

[@Tetsu9701]

I remember having a 19" Daewoo TV in the late 90s in my room as a kid. That thing is where my formative years gamingwas primarily done. So many hours playing PS1, N64, Dreamcast, & PS2 on that thing.

[@NorthernWindNut]

Almost seems like a Korean Enron, especially some of the accounting trickery mentioned around 19:50.

[@MotorTorq_ZA]

Daewoo Motor is still around today as GM Korea. Check if your chevy is built in Korea. Then it is a Daewoo

[@Taser1-1]

Growing up I had a Daewoo TV. Some of them are still working to this day.

[@sevrent2811]

A video about China's shipbuilding industry would be great

[@Mastermind12358]

How does this guy produce videos so fast? Anyway, great content.

[@powershin12]

Since you did Daewoo, it would be fitting to do Ssangyong Group too. Ssangyong Motors struggled a LOT.

[@the_kombinator]

Who cares, they make ugly cars :P

[@Paul_SD]

I had a couple of Ssangyong cars - Rexton & Korando - loved them & never had an issue with either.

[@WedgeKahr]

I had a dream that I ordered a daewoo k2 rooftop special and now this shows up on my feed? The simulation admins have a great sense of humor

[@Т1000-м1и]

And that's how numbers are not the effect directly, but the representation of the system as a whole, which could be very many different things

[@AUM_-po9sc]

Daewoo UZ produced cars were one of the most popular in Western Europe.

[@OmmerSyssel]

Really? Almost 60, can hardly remember ever seeing one, despite travelling most of western Europe. Which period are you referring to, and where do you live?

[@MisakaMikotoDesu]

This channel is a great service to public education. Thank you so much!

[@JohnDoe-yq9ml]

Love the longer videos!!!!

[@escgoogle3865]

Asianomitry, the Asian Frontline of KZbin.

[@randlecycling2462]

Holden Australia which was under GM badged a Daewoo Winrun as a Holden and the vehicle was so bad it contributed to the downfall of Holden Australia. As a vehicle mechanic, Daewoo are one of the worst vehicles in terms of build quality.

[@robertovinci3221]

Very well done video

[@fauzirahman3285]

I remembered when Daewoo cars flooded the market where I am and they usually managed to fill in the niche of tiny cars which is not common here and also cheap. Most people stayed away though as they had a reputation for being unreliable. It seems there is a tendency in Korea to pardon once powerful but disgraced people though.

[@dataflowc]

I was involved putting a computer system in Daewoo Electronics UK back in the early 1990s. Although Daewoo made PCs all their in house equipment was IBM. And their company cars were all Ford's!

[@JapGujral2000]

Daewoo was one of the first Foriegn investor in Bangladesh ( as early as 1975)

[@JapGujral2000]

What happened to Daewoo north korean brother?

[@diegovasquez7610]

Here in Peru, Daewoo cars were extremely popular, during the late 90's - early 2010's, Daewoo Tico was the most popular car among taxi drivers, even today it's possible see a few ticos

[@the_kombinator]

Matizes are all over the world, except North America - Fat americans can't fit into them ;)

[@root_pierre]

Thank you for another informative well researched essay. It's a great way to catch up on history I missed coming from a Western-oriented country

[@alocinotasor]

Great content 👍🤗

[@Premier-Media-Group]

I bought a new Leganza in the U.S. in 2002 - AFTER the dealership network already had learned of Daewoo Motors' bankruptcy filing. Needless to say, it was almost impossible to get factory service or parts...and resale value plummeted.

[@LeeJcc]

I think GM actually benefitted from purchasing Daewoo Motors - it gave Chevrolet a range of budget economy and compact cars such as the Spark, Aveo and Cruze just when the 2008 financial crisis was taking place. GM Asia also remained profitable while the rest of GM had to be bailed out and the whole company restructured.

[@djr1943]

Great job! Thanks!

[@scholarlyreader383]

Well presented.

[@JustJamesDean]

Great video, thank you We still have tiny Daewoo hatchbacks driving around. Mr Kim do make good cars.

[@HouseOfFunQM]

Fine. I’ll get on the Patreon.

[@shmookins]

Question: If you own a Daewoo car today, can you still buy parts for it? Or are you left completely on your own? I still see one of their cars every now and then and wonder about this. Did another company buy their car division or did that division completely sink?

[@xlime6139]

you can buy them in bulk in ukraine

[@skazala]

You can find some parts on Kazakhstans flee market cuz we had the biggest supply of daewoo stuff in 90s and 2000s

[@hugod2000]

Thank you for your fascinating videos.

[@sahhaf1234]

I'd be very much interested if you make a program (or better, a series of programs) on korean economic development in 20th century... Especially how they rose from their ashes after the korean war...

[@thor8086]

Better to watch Korean documentaries. As good as Asianometry is, their coverage of Japanese or Korean business seems to be Taiwanese understanding of Korea. Kind of like asking Mexican youtuber to do investigative journalism of Canadian politics.

[@capmidnite]

@@thor8086 And don't ask a Taiwanese their opinion about Korean baseball.

[@capmidnite]

The short history is that there was this Miracle on the Han in which the South Koreans rose from Third World status to First World through sheer grit and determination, coupled with ever rising exports and climbing up the value chain (from wigs to textiles to cheap electronics to semiconductors). What the Koreans will never directly acknowledge is that Japanese colonization brought to Korea modern education and infrastructure (like Taiwan and their colonization by the Japanese). It was true the Japanese built an economy designed to serve their interests, but they did introduce mass education and the rail lines they built are still used today. After they left, a small nucleus of native Korean technocrats, engineers and professionals remained. The best university in Korea (SNU) has its roots in Keijo Imperial University, for example. The Korean War brought an influx of American military contracts and know-how (many Korean construction companies got their start working with the US Army Corps of Engineers).

[@sahhaf1234]

@@capmidnite I think what you say (aka japanese influence at the root of korean miracle) is the reason why nobody want to touch this topic. If they spell it, they will be lynched by koreans. If they dont spell it, the program they produce would be lacking.. BTW, western media is completely untrustable on this topic.. They lovingly talk hour after hour about all the injustices of the japanese rule in korea (ie comfort women etc), but they never utter a single word about the positives.. Nobody wnts his country to be occupied. But, I have the impression that japanese were much better colonizers than the british, belgians, dutch etc..

[@sahhaf1234]

@@capmidnite Actually, I've bought a book with the title "offspring of empire" by cater j. eckert which is exactly on the topic you've mentioned, ie, japanese roots of korean "industrial revolution". I hope that the kind soul of asianometry will make a nice program on the origins of korean industry and will save me from the the effort of reading it... 🙂

[@Hammerhead547]

There was a Daewoo car dealership about two blocks from my childhood home, I don't recall ever seeing anyone on their lot and from what my neighbor who was the parts department manager said they never sold a single car too anyone in the three years it was open.

[@sanchozarchicha1064]

Awesome video

[@jokg28]

Thanks so much ❤️

[@benoitdalle8536]

Good video 👍 There's no SeuSangYong. It s Sangyong

[@olumuyiwaasunmo]

'Bailout' models create wildly adventurous Capitalists, like dictators who are out to impress their nations that they are powerful rulers by throwing all cautions to the winds.