Korea has approved a restructuring plan submitted by petrochemical companies at the Yeosu industrial complex amid a prolonged downturn in the petrochemical industry, the industry ministry said Wednesday. The plan was submitted after the government announced last August measures to support petrochemical companies' "voluntary" self-restructuring efforts to address an industrywide crisis caused by a global oversupply. It marks the second restructuring project approved under the government's initiative to reform the petrochemical industry, following approval of a plan for the Daesan petrochemical industrial complex in February. Under the plan, Lotte Chemical Corp. will spin off its naphtha cracking center (NCC) operations at the Yeosu petrochemical industrial complex, about 320 kilometers south of Seoul, and merge them with Yeochun NCC, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said in a press release. The merged entity will integrate core businesses of other companies at the complex — DL Chemical and Hanwha Solutions Corp. — including DL Chemical's polyethylene (PE) operations and H