SEOUL, South Korea -- Samsung Motor Inc. creditors on Friday sued the chairman of the Samsung Group and its affiliates to force them to pay back the defunct automaker's debt and interest.

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.

"Samsung Motor creditors have urged Samsung Group to abide by the pact agreed in 1999, but Samsung's continued refusal to do so led us to sue them as a final action," Seoul Guarantee Insurance said in the statement.

The creditors are seeking the automaker's debt worth 2.45 trillion won ($2.37 billion) as well as 2.29 trillion won ($2.21 billion) in interest.

The total of 28 Samsung affiliates named in the lawsuit include Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest memory chipmaker, plasma display maker Samsung SDI Co. and Samsung Corp.

"We plan to take appropriate legal procedures after reviewing" the contents of the lawsuit, said Lee Soo-jeong, a spokeswoman for Samsung Electronics, which will take charge of the lawsuit for the group in cooperation with the other affiliates.

This is cache, read story here