[THE INVESTOR] Chey Tae-won, head of Korea’s No. 3 conglomerate SK Group, departed for Beijing on May 24, to help normalize operations in the country.

The trip comes as SK and other Korean companies are facing difficulties operating in China due to diplomatic tensions between the Northeast Asian neighbors over the deployment of THAAD here.

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 head currently leads the foundation.

SK Innovation’s electronic-vehicle battery production line in China had suspended its operation since January.SK Global Chemical’s push to acquire shares in Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical from Britain-based BP also ended in vain.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)