KDIC to offload rest of local life insurer to recoup funds

The state-run Korea Depository Insurance Corporation (KDIC) said yesterday it plans to sell its 24.8 percent stake in a local life insurer as part of efforts to retrieve public funds it had injected into some cash-strapped firms during the Asian financial crisis.

The Public Fund Oversight Committee, which oversees the retrieval of public funds, will soon choose the sale manager for Hanwha Life Insurance, previously known as Korea Life Insurance, the second-largest life insurer here. The insurer was bailed out by the government after it went bankrupt during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

In 2001, Hanwha Group, a family-owned conglomerate, acquired a 51 percent stake in the firm from the government. After a series of stake sales, the KDIC is moving to sell the remainder, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC).

The KDIC said it sold off a 3.6 percent stake in Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) through a block sale, with the rest to be sold off early next year.