Anchor: Kumho Asiana Group, which is struggling to keep its head above water, has decided to sell its flagship airline unit as part of self-rescue measures.
Choi You Sun has this report.

Report: The board of directors at Kumho Industrial, the holding company of cash-strapped Kumho Asiana Group, decided on Monday to sell off the conglomerate's flagship Asiana Airlines to secure emergency loans from its creditors.

The board is expected to soon name a managing company to oversee the proposed sale.

Earlier in the day, former Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo and his son Se-chang, the president of Asiana IDT, submitted the group's self-help plan, including the proposed sale of the airline unit, to its main creditor Korea Development Bank(KDB).

The state-run KDB and eight other creditors are expected to review the conglomerate's revised plan.

Last week, Kumho Asiana asked KDB for an additional 500 billion won in emergency loans and pledged to sell off Asiana Airlines should it fail to meet creditors' demands in three years. 

The conglomerate's creditors and the Financial Services Commission(FSC) rejected the proposal, calling it insufficient to regain market trust.

Kumho Industrial currently owns a 33-point-47-percent stake in Asiana Airlines worth some 300 billion won, and with the management premium taken into account, the acquisition price for the airline is expected to total as much as one trillion won.

Asiana Airlines owes financial institutions three-point-four trillion won, and must repay one-point-three trillion won by the end of this year.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.