Shin Dong-bin returns to Korea

Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin returned to Korea on Sunday afternoon after nearly a month away from the country, sparking questions about how he will handle the current investigation into the group.

Shin, who landed at Gimpo International Airport at 2:38 p.m., was largely silent when questioned by reporters on his stance on prosecutors’ ongoing embezzlement investigation.

Shin said only that he “apologized for causing concern” through the recent allegations, and that he would “cooperate fully” with the prosecutors’ investigations.

After a business trip to Mexico starting June 7, Shin visited the U.S. for the groundbreaking ceremony of a Lotte Chemical ethane cracker plant in Atlanta before flying to Japan for a shareholders meeting of Lotte Holdings, the holding company of Lotte Group. 

At the shareholders’ meeting, Shin Dong-bin once again defeated motions by his brother Shin Dong-joo to remove him from the top post, further solidifying his control over the group. When asked about his brother‘s continued efforts to remove him from Lotte Holdings, Shin Dong-bin said that he does not “think there will be any big problems.”

Meanwhile, prosecutors are continuing an aggressive investigation against Shin and his family. On Friday, they brought in Shin Dong-bin’s sister Shin Young-ja, chairperson of the Lotte Foundation, for questioning about accepting possible bribes in exchange for favors to cosmetics brand Nature Republic.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)