Lotte Corporation
Native name
  • 롯데그룹
TypePublic
KRX: 004990
IndustryConglomerate
FoundedMarch 24, 1967 (1967-03-24)
FounderShin Kyuk-ho
HeadquartersSongpa District, Seoul,
South Korea
Areas served
Worldwide
Key people
Subsidiaries
Korean name
Hangul
롯데그룹
Revised RomanizationRotdegeurup
McCune–ReischauerRottegŭrup, Rotte-kŭrup
Websitewww.lotte.co.kr

Lotte Corporation is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation, and the fifth-largest chaebol in South Korea.[1] Lotte began its history on June 28, 1948, by Korean businessman Shin Kyuk-ho in Tokyo. Shin expanded Lotte to his ancestral country, South Korea, with the establishment of Lotte Confectionery in Seoul on April 3, 1967.

Lotte Corporation consists of over 90 business units employing 60,000 people engaged in such diverse industries as candy manufacturing, beverages, hotels, fast food, retail, financial services, industrial chemicals, electronics, IT, construction, publishing, and entertainment.[2] Lotte runs additional businesses in China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Uzbekistan, India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, Russia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Pakistan, Poland (Lotte bought Poland's largest candy company Wedel from Kraft Foods in June 2010), Australia and New Zealand (Lotte successfully bought 4 duty-free stores in Australia and 1 in New Zealand from JR/Group in 2019[3]).

History

Lotte was founded in June 1948, by Korean businessman Shin Kyuk-ho in Tokyo, Japan, two years after he graduated from Waseda Jitsugyo High School (早稲田実業学校). Originally called Lotte Co., Ltd, the company has grown from selling chewing gum to children in post-war Japan to becoming a major multinational corporation.

Name

The source of the company's name is neither Korean nor Japanese, or even Chinese, but German. Shin Kyuk-ho was impressed with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) and named his newly founded company Lotte after the character Charlotte in the novel.[4][5] ("Charlotte" is also the name of premium auditoriums in movie theatres run by Lotte.[6])

Operations

Lotte Department Store in Seoul
Lotte New York Palace Hotel

Lotte Corporation – is located in Songpa-gu, Seoul and Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It is controlled by the founder Shin Kyuk-Ho's extended family.

Business

Lotte Group's major businesses are food, retail, chemical, construction, manufacturing, tourism, service, finance, etc.

Sports

Lotte also owns professional baseball teams.

Lotte R&D Center

  • Korea R&D Center : 201, Magokjungang-ro, Gangseo-gu Seoul, South Korea

Controversies

In June 2016, companies of the group were raided by South Korean prosecutors, investigating into a possible slush fund as well as breach of trust involving transactions among the group's companies.[7] The investigation forced its Hotel Lotte unit to abandon an initial public offering and Lotte Chemical Corp to withdraw from bidding for Axiall Corp.[7] Vice chairman, Lee In-won, was found dead in August same year. He was suspected of suicide just hours before being questioned by prosecutors.[7] Lee was considered the top lieutenant of Chairman Shin Dong-bin.[7]

Lotte Corporation has received negative press attention due to treatment of a captive beluga whale named Bella, currently held in the Lotte World Aquarium Attraction in Seoul. In 2016, Lotte Corporation announced that they would no longer acquire new beluga whales after two of Bella's companions, Belli and Bellu, died in their care.[8] In 2019, Lotte Corporation pledged that they would release Bella from captivity.[9] As of 2023, the Lotte Corporation has come under increasing criticism for keeping Bella in solitary captivity for an extended multi-year period following their announcement.[10] The Corporation has also been criticized by civic groups for a lack of updates or cohesive plan for retiring Bella to a sanctuary.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Chaebol rankings seesaw over 2 decades". Yonhap. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  2. ↑ "Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-ho dies at age 99". Yonhap. 19 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "Lotte Duty Free expands into Australia and New Zealand". Inside Retail. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  4. ↑ "Lotte Hotel Seoul – Hotel Facilities, Fitness, Spa, Conference room". www.lottehotel.com. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  5. ↑ "Korean Chaebols: Lotte. The Origin of the Lotte Name". Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  6. ↑ "Inside the Korean cinemas offering a red-carpet experience". 13 September 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Jin, Hyunjoo; Lee, Se Young (26 August 2016). "Lotte vice chairman found dead amid probe; suicide suspected". Reuters. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  8. ↑ Jong-young, Nam. "After animal death, Lotteworld says it won't acquire more beluga whales". english.hani.co.kr. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  9. ↑ Chen, Heather; Kwon, Junhyup (1 October 2021). "This Beluga Whale Has Been Held in a Conglomerate's Aquarium for Years". Vice. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Chen, Heather; Seo, Yoonjung (24 December 2023). "Free Bella: The fight to release a beluga whale from a South Korean mega mall's aquarium". CNN. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "Civic groups call for release of last beluga whale from Lotte World Aquarium". The Korea Times. 24 October 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  • Official website
  • Business data for Lotte Corporation:
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