South Korea’s Lotte Group chaebol in disarray as chairperson is jailed
Seoul/Hong Kong — The surprise jailing of Lotte Group chair Shin Dong-bin on bribery charges has thrown one of South Korea’s biggest chaebols into further disarray. Now up in the air: a planned initial public offering (IPO) for Lotte’s hotel unit; its hope of selling its network of stores in China; a restructuring plan for the group; and the family feud between Shin Dong-bin and his elder brother for control of the conglomerate founded by their father. The company’s operation of a duty-free store at Lotte World Tower in Seoul is also at stake, as the Korea customs service said on Wednesday that it will decide whether to cancel the licence needed to operate the store after legal reviews. "It’s the biggest crisis since the founding of Lotte," Chung Sun-sup, the head of corporate analysis firm chaebul.com in Seoul. "The growth of Lotte’s business could be stagnant." Shin Dong-bin was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Tuesday after being found guilty of charges stemming from Lotte’s d...
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