Lotte CEOs pledge support for chairman

Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin received a boost in his move to solidify his managerial power as CEOs of the group’s units and Japan-based Lotte Holdings’ CEO pledged their full support for his leadership amid an intensified power struggle with his elder brother. 

CEOs of 37 Lotte Group units said the current 60-year-old chairman is a “competent chief” to lead Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate during an emergency meeting held at Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, southern Seoul, Tuesday.

“We, the presidents of Lotte units, express our support for Shin Dong-bin, who has proved his management skills and made achievements as Lotte Group’s head,” Noh Byung-yong, head of Lotte Corp., said in a statement issued after the meeting.

The meeting was spontaneously called by the CEOs in a bid to mitigate the negative impact of the founding family’s conflicts on corporate value and management.

“Lotte Group is not an exclusive property that belongs to a specific individual or family, it is a company that all the customers, shareholders, business partners and employees share,” they said in the statement.

Takayuki Tsukuda, CEO of Lotte Holdings, the de facto holding firm of Lotte Group, also backed the chairman by saying, ”I will enhance the synergy between Lotte in Korea and Japan with Shin Dong-bin as a team,” during a news conference held in Tokyo.

On Monday, Shin pledged to do his best to resolve a bitter family conflict with his elder brother over control of the retail empire in Korea and Japan.

Lotte Group consists of over 80 business units employing 180,000 people engaged in diverse industries encompassing candy manufacturing, beverages, hotels, fast food, retail, financial services and heavy chemicals.

The chairman, who didn’t attend the meeting, made site visits to show his unwavering leadership and encourage employees Tuesday.

“No need to worry as Lotte Group’s management will be undaunted (by the crisis). It’s a growing pain that Lotte needs to embrace in its transition to a global conglomerate,” he told newly-hired employees who were taking part in training courses at the group’s training institute in Osan, Gyeonggi Province.

The youngest son and heir apparent of Lotte Group said he would continue contributing to the development of the national economy through leading Lotte on Monday after returning from Japan.

My role is to normalize the group’s operations at home and abroad in accordance with the founder’s sprit,” he said.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)