SK Tel to sell handset business to China

SK Telecom Co, South Korea's top mobile service operator, is in talks to sell its handset manufacturing business in China to a Chinese firm, a South Korean daily reported on Wednesday.

The sale could be completed by the year-end, depending on the outcome of due diligence, the Dong-A Ilbo quoted industry sources as saying.

An SK Telecom spokesman declined to comment.

The company had invested 26 billion won (US$28 million) in the Chinese plant earlier this year to produce an annual 250,000 handsets for sale in China and eastern Europe.