Chey Tae-won, the head of South Korea's No. 3 conglomerate SK, departed for Beijing on Wednesday, with the aim of meeting government and business leaders to help the group normalize operations in the world's second-largest economy.
The trip comes as SK and other South Korean companies are facing difficulties operating in China due to diplomatic tensions between the Northeast Asian neighbors over the deployment of the US missile defense system here.
SK Group head Chey Tae-won speaks to reporters at Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center in this file photo taken on April 26, 2017. (Yonhap)
Chey also plans to take part in the Shanghai Forum, which is co-hosted by the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies and Fudan University. The SK Group head currently leads the foundation.
The visit is significant as SK Group's affiliates have been facing hurdles as a result of Seoul's decision to allow the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense on its soil, despite stringent opposition from China.
SK Innovation's electronic-vehicle battery production line in China had suspended its operation since January. SK Global Chemical Co.'s push to acquire shares in Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical from Britain-based BP also ended in vain.
Accordingly, industry watchers said Chey's latest visit may provide a breakthrough in SK Group's on-going challenges in the Chinese market.
Chey, meanwhile, declined to elaborate on the group's latest push to purchase Japanese tech giant Toshiba Corp.'s memory business. SK hynix Inc. has been seeking to acquire stakes in the business, which would make the company the No. 2 player in the area worldwide. (Yonhap)