Court: Gov't unable to collect 80 bil. won from Roh

The Seoul District Court rejected a lawsuit that the government filed against Hanbo Steel, which offered payment guarantees in the process of former president Roh Tae-Woo`s lending of 59.9 billion won to former Hanbo Steel chairman Chung Tae-Soo.

If the ruling is upheld, the government cannot collect 80 billion won, including interest, from Roh.

The judge said in his ruling that the settlement plan was fair to all creditors, including the government, saying that that the Seoul District Court had approved the liquidation plan of Hanbo, which went bankrupt in 1997, that included full exemption of payment guarantees.

Also, the judge added that the court`s liquidation plan had been approved through precise review, as it was designed to revive companies to the benefit of the public welfare, noting that it did not unlawfully violate property rights of the government.

Hanbo Steel offered payment guarantees in the process of Roh`s lending of 59.9 billion won in September 1993 to former Hanbo chairman Chung at a very favorable annual interest rate of 8.5%.