Where South Korea's Teetering, Debt-Laden Companies Go to Bank

  • KDB seeks to rescue Daewoo Shipbuilding and Hyundai Merchant
  • Ship giant faces $1.1 billion in bond payments through 2018
Photographer: Jean Chung/Bloomberg News
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Last August, the Korea Development Bank left cash-strapped Hanjin Shipping Co. adrift at sea -- literally.

South Korea’s state-owned lender, the nation’s largest policy bank, and other creditors turned down a bailout request from Hanjin, then one of the world’s biggest shipping lines. That in turn led to a bankruptcy filing in Seoul and a major disruption in global shipping as more than 90 Hanjin ships were marooned offshore and ports in the U.S., Asia and Europe turned the company’s ships away.