Lotte commemorates 100th birthday of late founder

Lotte Group is commemorating what would have been the 100th birthday of its late founder Shin Kyuk-ho by publishing his memoirs, giving out scholarships and funding for startups, holding a concert, and opening a memorial hall in the Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, Seoul.

On Monday, Lotte unveiled a bronze bust of Shin and a memorial hall displaying media and historical records of the conglomerate’s history, a replica of Shin’s office in the early days, his old shoes, reading glasses, pen and notebook, pipe, books and video tapes of movies he liked.

A live illustration of six major episodes during Shin’s time in Japan where he studied can also be viewed at the memorial.

It also has a display explaining how Shin sought to help talented but financially struggling students, foreign workers and welfare projects in his hometown of Ulsan by setting up the Lotte Scholarship Foundation, the Lotte Foundation and the Lotte Samdong Welfare Foundation.

“With a strong faith that Korea should become rich and powerful, and Koreans should be well off, honorary chairman Shin Kyuk-ho tried to build an enterprise that helps its neighbors and society,” Lotte chairman Shin Dong-bin said at the opening of the memorial.

“Keeping the honorary chairman’s spirit (of challenge and passion) in mind, let’s build the future of Lotte together.”

On Wednesday, the founder’s birthday, Lotte published a memoir of Shin who died last year, and offered 500 million won to support 13 selected startups.

Also on Wednesday, the Korea Distribution Association gave out rewards named after Shin and sponsored by Lotte to academics for their research that helped develop retail policies and the industry.

The Lotte Scholarship Foundation is offering 120 million won to 110 children of nurses to thank them for their hard work in fighting COVID-19.

During the commemorative concert at the Lotte Concert Hall in Jamsil, Seoul, Wednesday evening, a video showed how a boy from a remote village grew to build a business giant with 100 trillion won in assets.

Videos showing interviews with people, including former boxing champion Hong Soo-hwan and former Go champion Cho Chi-hun’s brother, talking about their memories of Shin were also played.

Hong said he felt that Shin was always thinking about his home country when he first saw a large painting of Korean landscape at Shin’s office in Japan.

Cho Sang-yeon, brother of legendary Go champion Cho Chi-hun, recounted how Shin flew his brother first class when he visited Korea to receive an order of cultural merit after winning a prestigious Go title in Japan decades ago.

“He could have done a media interview saying he brought (Cho) home, but he just left without saying anything,” Cho said.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)