Wednesday, will not be allowed to close, its local agent said yesterday.

"They're too big to close down,'' said Star Motors owner John Bento when asked how bankruptcy of the company might affect him.

Daewoo's main creditor, Korea Development Bank said on Wednesday that it could no longer afford to negotiate a settlement.

The word came after a car workers' union turned down a restructuring plan which would have left 18 percent of the company's 18,000 unionised workers jobless.

Mr. Bento said Daewoo would be bought out most likely by General Motors or Fiat. According to news reports, General Motors has been negotiating to purchase the South Korean car manufacturer since September.

Mr. Bento said there would be no problems with getting parts for the vehicles even with the company going bankrupt.

"Daewoo does not even make most of the parts,'' he said, "that is all outsourced and so there will not be any problem there.''