Kim Woo-choong, founder of S. Korea's Daewoo Group, dies at 83 Kim Woo-choong, founder of S. Korea's Daewoo Group, dies at 83 December 10, 2019 dzadmin Comments 0 Comment The defunct Daewoo, started by Kim in 1967, symbolized South Korea’s meteoric rise after the Korean War before becoming one of its biggest corporate failures. Its Daewoo Motor unit was acquired by GM in the early 2000s.