Hyundai breaks monopoly

Hyundai breaks monopoly

SEOUL (AFP): South Korean industrial giant Hyundai Group
yesterday obtained approval from a provincial government to jump
into the country's monopolized and state-controlled steel
industry, the group said.

Hyundai Group chairman Chung Mong-Koo signed an agreement with
the governor of Kyungnam province, who allowed the group to build
a major steel mill in Hadong, near the hometown of President Kim
Young-Sam.

The agreement, however, bypassed the central Seoul government,
which has rejected Hyundai's ambitious drive to break the state
monopoly in the lucrative industry.

In parliament last week, Trade and Industry Minister Lim
Chang-Yeul repeated that Seoul objected to Hyundai's steel mill
project.