Lotte Corporation (or Lotte Group) is a South Korean multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation, and the fifth-largest chaebol in South Korea. 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. Lotte runs additional businesses in China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Uzbekistan, India, United States of America, United States, United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, Russia, Philippines, Myanmar, Pakistan, Poland (Lotte bought Poland's largest candy company E. Wedel, 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 James Richardson Corporation, JR/Group in 2019).

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 (). 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. ("Charlotte" is also the name of premium auditoriums in movie theatres run by Lotte.) Lotte's current marketing slogan in Japan is .

Operations

''Lotte Corporation'' – Lotte group's world headquarters – is located in Songpa-gu, Seoul and Lotte Holdings, 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. * Food: Lotte Confectionery, Lotte Chilsung, Lotte Liquor, Lotte Nestle, Lotte Asahi Liquor, Lotte GRS, and others. * Retail: Lotte Department Store, Lotte Shopping, Lotte Hi-Mart, Lotte Super, Lotte On, Lotter Korea Seven, FRL Korea, and others. * Chemical/Construction/Manufacturing: Lotte Construction, Lotte Chemical, Lotte Fine Chemical, Lotte MCC, Lotte E&C, Lotte Aluminium, Lotte Ineos Chemical, Korea Fujifilm, and others. * Tourism/Service/Finance: Lotte Global Logistics, Lotte Rental, Lotte Resort, Lotte Duty Free, Lotte World, Lotte Property & Development, Lotte Capital, Lotte Hotels & Resorts, Lotte Giants, Daehong Communications, Lotte Hotel Busan, Lotte International, and others

Sports

Lotte also owns professional baseball teams. * Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan (1971–present) * Lotte Giants in Busan, South Korea (1982–present).

Lotte R&D Center

* Korea R&D Center : 201, Magokjungang-ro, Gangseo-gu Seoul, South Korea * Japan R&D Center : Saitama, Saitama, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

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. The investigation forced its Hotel Lotte unit to abandon an initial public offering and Lotte Chemical Corp to withdraw from bidding for ''Axiall Corp.'' Vice chairman, Lee In-won, was found dead in August same year. He was suspected of suicide just hours before being questioned by prosecutors. Lee was considered the top lieutenant of Chairman Shin Dong-bin.

References

External links

* (Korean) * (English) {{KRX 100 companies Lotte Corporation, Chaebol Multinational companies Conglomerate companies established in 1967 Companies based in Seoul South Korean brands Companies listed on the Korea Exchange South Korean companies established in 1967 Shin family