Founder of S.Korean retail giant Lotte dies

Lotte

19/01/2020 10:09

By Hyunjoo Jin and Joyce Lee
    SEOUL, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-ho,
who started manufacturing chewing gum in 1948 in Japan and built
the business into South Korea's No.5 conglomerate with interests
ranging from retail to chemicals, died on Sunday, the company
said. He was 98.
    He was the last of the South Korean entrepreneurs who
founded the country's major chaebols, or family-run
conglomerates, that now dominate Asia's fourth-largest economy. 
    Lotte was founded in 1948 as a chewing gum maker in Japan by
Shin, who moved to the neighbouring country when the Korean
peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule. He married a
Japanese woman and they had two sons, who later feuded over
control of the business empire in 2015. 
    Now, Shin Dong-bin, the younger son, is at the helm of the
retail conglomerate.
    Due to its deep links to Japan, Lotte has sometimes faced a 
public backlash in South Korea, leading to a boycott of its
products when ties between the two countries worsened.    
    In 2017, Lotte also became the biggest corporate casualty of
South Korea's diplomatic row with China over Seoul's decision to
deploy a U.S. anti-missile system to counter North Korean
threat. Lotte, which offered land for the system, saw most of
its supermarkets suspended by Chinese authorities, and
eventually pulled out of the operations. 
    Shin, by then wheelchair-bound, was sentenced to three years
in prison in 2018 for embezzlement and breach of duty. But he
was excused from serving time because of his poor health. 
    Lotte, which owns the country's tallest 123-story
skyscraper, is a household name in South Korea, with the
conglomerate's interests ranging from snacks and beverages to
supermarkets, department stores, hotels, theme parks and
cinemas. One of its flagship units is Lotte Chemical
 011170.KS , which has a factory in the United States.

 (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Joyce Lee; Editing by Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
 ((ju-min.park@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5650; Reuters
Messaging: ju-min.park.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))