Hyundai to sell off electronics arm

One of South Korea's giant business groups, Hyundai, has proposed selling off its electronics subsidiary in order to save its debt-burdened construction company.

The BBC Economics Correspondent says that Hyundai is determined not to go the same way as many South Korean business conglomerates did in the Asian economic crisis in 1997.

Many then suddenly found that their diversification into new lines of business had left them with debts they could not repay.

Our correspondent says that for the South Korean government, reforming the conglomerates is a central part of the effort to strengthen its economy and reduce the risks of any repeat of 1997.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service