SEOUL- THE founder of South Korea's now-defunct Daewoo group was given a suspended prison term on Thursday for hiding assets worth millions of dollars, months after he had been pardoned over one of the world's largest corporate failures.

The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Kim Woo Choong to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, for concealing assets valued at 115 billion won (S$141.67 million dollars).

The verdict marks the final chapter in a legal saga which began after Daewoo's collapse in 1999.

The group had debts of US$82 billion when it went under in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. The government was forced to spend some 30 trillion won to rescue its subsidiaries.

Kim fled the country but returned after six years.

In Nov 2006 he was given an eight-and-a-half year jail sentence for embezzlement and for accounting fraud involving 20 trillion won. He was also ordered to forfeit 17.9 trillion won and pay 10 million won in fines.

In Dec 2006 the jail sentence was suspended on grounds of ill health and Kim was pardoned last Dec in a presidential amnesty.

Prosecutors imposed fresh charges on Kim in Jul when he was found to have stashed the 115 billion won in a front company he established. They noted, however, that he had cooperated with their investigation.

Kim claimed that he could not previously forfeit the assets because he was in the midst of a legal dispute with Daewoo's creditors.

'I don't know how much time I have left to live, but on this occasion I give my pledge to lead an exemplary life,' the 72-year-old told the court last month.

Kim, who has twice undergone heart surgery, arrived in court in a wheelchair and was helped by his aides to the defence table.

On Thursday Judge Yoon Gyeong noted that Kim's 'crime is grave, but the defendant deeply regrets it and the pertinent assets have since been forfeited to the government,' Yonhap news agency reported.

Prosecutors had sought a one-year suspended jail term due to the ailing tycoon's poor health. They added that Kim's crime was unintentional.

Before the financial crisis Daewoo was exporting goods worth US$17.6 billion a year - 13.3 per cent of South Korea's total exports - and employed 250,000 people worldwide.

South Korea has a record of leniency towards bosses of chaebol - giant family-run conglomerates - and other prominent white-collar criminals. -- AFP