Lotte Founder Dies at 99
20 January, 2020
Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho died on Sunday of a chronic illness. He was 99.
Born in the southeastern port city of Ulsan in 1921, Shin stowed away on a ship to Japan in 1942, where he adopted the name Takeo Shigemitsu.
In 1948 he founded Lotte as a chewing-gum manufacturer, which it remains. He set up Lotte Confectionery in Korea in 1967 and the company became a pioneer in Korea's retail, food and tourism industries.
In time it became one of Korea's five largest conglomerates with around 200 affiliates in 20 countries and assets totaling W115 trillion (US$1=W1,159). Now it rakes in W90 trillion in revenues and employs 180,000 workers worldwide.
In later years he was troubled by dementia, a corruption conviction and a very public falling out with his younger son, Shin Dong-bin, who took over the conglomerate in a palace coup.
A memorial altar has been set up at Asan Medical Center in Seoul and he will be laid to rest on Wednesday.
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