daewoo (/ˈdaɪwuː/ DY-woo; Hangul: 대우, Hanja: 大宇, IPA: [tɛ.u]; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "dae" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerate) and car manufacturer. 
It was founded on 22 March 1967 as Daewoo Industrial and was declared bankrupt on 1 November 1999, with debts of about US$50 billion (equivalent to $78 billion in 2020). 
Prior to the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Daewoo was the second largest conglomerate in South Korea after the Hyundai Group. There were about 20 divisions under the Daewoo Group, some of which survived as independent companies.