South Korean retail giant Lotte Group faces a slew of difficulties, including economic retaliation by China and a criminal investigation for alleged bribery, as it gets ready to mark the 50th anniversary of its foundation next month.
Lotte Confectionery Co., the matrix of Lotte Group, was founded by Shin Kyuk-ho, father of Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, on April 3, 1967.
Lotte officials said they are organizing a ceremony to open the 123-story Lotte World Tower in southeastern Seoul with great fanfare on the occasion of the half-centuyry anniversary.
Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho will not likely attend the ceremony, although the construction of the tallest building in the country was his decades-old dream, the officials said.
Shin Kyuk-ho has been embroiled in a legal battle with Shin Dong-bin, his second son, over control of the country's fifth largest conglomerate in cooperation with his first son, Shin Dong-joo, former vice chairman of Tokyo-based Lotte Holdings.
Dong-joo has waged an uphill battle against his younger brother since last July to gain control of Lotte Group through a series of lawsuits and board room coups without success. Shin Dong-joo has also filed complaints with the prosecution, accusing his younger brother of embezzlement, tax evasion and breach of trust.
Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin recently attended a National Assembly hearing on his alleged involvement in the bribery scandal that led to the parliamentary impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. He is also awaiting his own investigation due to the scandal.Lotte Group is also suffering from economic retaliation from the Chinese government as Lotte provided the land for the installation of an advanced U.S. missile defense battery, known as the Terminal Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), on one of its golf courses in southern Seoul.
Beijing has reacted angrily, saying the high-tech radar will serve as a great security risk to China by penetrating its military, although Seoul insists the THAAD is to defend against North Korean missile and nuclear threats, not against China.
The Chinese government has shut down 23 Lotte outlets in China, citing violations of fire safety regulations."Lotte Group has recently been suffering from as many as four major disasters at the same time, although the average business is expected to face only one a decade," a Lotte official said. "We hope we will be able to get through the unprecedented calamities so Lotte could be reborn as an enterprise being loved by the people on the 50th anniversary of its foundation this year." (Yonhap)