Samsung Motors creditors this morning sued the chairman of the Samsung Group and its affiliates to force them to pay back the defunct car maker's debt and interest.
The creditors are seeking a total of 4.74 trillion won ($4.58 billion), main creditor Seoul Guarantee Insurance said.
The legal action is South Korea's largest civil lawsuit, Yonhap news agency reported.
The 14 creditors, which also include Woori Bank and Korea Development Bank, sued because they have failed to sell 3.5 million shares in unlisted Samsung Life Insurance Co. that Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee offered in 1999 as collateral for the debt of the group's automobile unit.
The creditors have asked Samsung Group to buy back the shares in Samsung Life Insurance at a price equal to Samsung Motor's unpaid debt and the interest.
The total of 28 Samsung affiliates named in the lawsuit include Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chipmaker, plasma display maker Samsung SDI and Samsung Corp.
After Samsung Motor collapsed in 1998 amid the Asian financial crisis, Samsung Group sold the unit to France-based auto group Renault in 1999.