Daewoo executives jailed

A group of former executives of the South Korean business group, Daewoo, has been jailed for up to seven years and ordered to pay massive fines after being convicted of fraud.

The fines amount to some $19bn dollars - thought to be the biggest ever imposed in South Korea.

A court heard that the disgraced executives had falsified accounts to fool creditors into thinking the Daewoo group was solvent when it was, in fact, saddled with huge debts.

The former head of Daewoo's motor division, Kang Byung-Ho, was jailed for five years.

Six other former executives were given prison sentences ranging from three to six years. The Daewoo group collapsed in 1999.

Its founder, Kim Woo-Choong, is in hiding abroad.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service