On Wednesday, Daewoo Group said its foreign creditors had agreed to refrain from taking legal measures or other collective action against the group.

Baik Kee-sung, executive director of the group's corporate restructuring department, made the remarks outside a hotel room where Daewoo was meeting its foreign creditors.

"That was Daewoo's media play," a foreign banker who attended Wednesday's meeting said.

"Foreign banks were not as favourable towards Daewoo as the Korean media have said."

The foreign banker said foreign banks were not in a position to accept Daewoo's request for a rollover as long as the Korean government remained reluctant to guarantee the group's loans and the group was unable to pay maturing loans.

Daewoo said on Wednesday it had borrowed $5.05 billion from foreign creditors, of which $2.95 billion was dueby the end of this year.

The group and its foreign creditors agreed to form a nine-member steering panel to negotiate the rescheduling of its foreign debts.