Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Co., a South Korean builder, filed for a debt workout program on Tuesday as part of its efforts to get back on its feet again amid a cash crunch, a company official said.

The move came days after the builder said its capital had been wiped out due to massive losses for the second consecutive year in 2012 amid the country's protracted housing market slump.

"We sent an official document to Woori Bank, the main creditor bank," a Ssangyong E&C official said, as he expressed confidence that the debt workout program would pave the way for the normalization of his company. He asked not to be identified, citing policy.

The builder said in a regulatory filing that its request for creditor banks' joint management is designed "to improve its financial structure and normalize its management."

Ssangyong E&C could be placed in a debt workout program again if 75 percent of Woori Bank and other creditor banks agree with the request. The former construction arm of the now-defunct Ssangyong Group was released from a separate creditor-led debt workout program in 2004.

Woori Bank officials handling the issue were not immediately reached for comment.

The builder has been calling for a debt-for-equity swap worth about 150 billion won ($137 million) before selling itself through a rights offering worth about 300 billion won.

The Korea Asset Management Corp., the state-run debt-clearer and former biggest shareholder of Ssangyong with a 38.8 percent interest, failed to sell the builder last year, the fifth such botched attempt. (Yonhap News)