Chaebol General Motors and Renault. The chaebol debts were not only to state industrial banks but also to independent banks and their own financial services subsidiaries. The scale of the loan defaults meant that banks could neither foreclose nor write off bad loans without themselves collapsing, so the failure to service these debts quickly caused a systemic banking crisis, and South Korea turned to the IMF for assistance. The most spectacular example came in mid-1999, with the collapse of the Daewoo Group, which had some US$80 billion in unpaid debt. At the time, it was the largest corporate bankruptcy in history.
Presbyterianism in South Korea in the communist-leaning northern parts of Korea were dissolved. In the Syngman Rhee-led parts of Korea south of the 38th Parallel they were reconstructed in 1946. The 33rd general assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Chosun was held in 1947. Two years later the name "Presbyterian Church in Korea" was adopted. The following year saw significant growth for the Presbyterian church in Korea. Among the reasons contributing to the growth in size of Christian communities in Korea was the fact that unlike in other countries, Christianity was not associated with colonial or imperialist power. The Protestant Christian message came to