Just a few years after he helped the government spearhead a bold overseas investment drive, Sung Wan-jong was found hanging by his tie from a tree in northern Seoul, undone by one of South Korea’s most high-profile business scandals of recent years.
State-controlled companies — as well as private groups such as Keangnam Enterprises, chaired by Sung — were encouraged to raise debt to acquire energy assets abroad, from Iraqi Kurdistan to the Gulf of Mexico.
But there are growing complaints that the programme led to a huge waste of public funds, with some allegedly lost to corruption. The national board of audit and inspection on April 3 estimated that state-controlled companies suffered net losses of Won3.4tn ($3.1bn) by pursuing overseas resource projects under Mr Lee.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/54c0dcd2-df4d-11e4-b6da-00144feab7de.html
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