"Highly Praised as a Korea-Japan Economic Bridge"… Shin Kyuk-ho's Funeral Hall Sees Line of Condolences from Political and Business Circles

Sangjo Kim Delivers Message from President Moon Jae-in
"The Entrepreneurial Generation That Built the Foundation of the Korean Economy"
Condolence Procession from Political Circles Including Jeong Seyeon and Hwang Kyo-ahn
New Honorary Chairman's Funeral and Memorial Service on the Morning of the 22nd

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance (left), and Kim Sang-jo, Chief of the Presidential Office for Policy, are entering the funeral hall set up at Seoul Asan Medical Center in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 20th to pay their respects at the late Shin Kyuk-ho, Honorary Chairman of Lotte Group. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The final 'first-generation entrepreneur,' Lotte Group founder and honorary chairman the late Shin Kyuk-ho, continues to receive an unending stream of visitors from the political and business circles paying their respects. On the 21st, former Vice Chairman of Japan Lotte Holdings Shin Dong-ju and Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin prepared to welcome mourners side by side.

The first to visit the funeral hall was Jeffrey Jones, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea. Kim Beom-seok, CEO of Coupang, and Lee Young-gu, CEO of Lotte Chilsung Beverage, entered the funeral hall together. So Jin-se, Chairman of Kyochon F&B, also visited the funeral hall. Chairman So, who joined Lotte Shopping in 1977, was part of the Lotte family until April last year when he took over as chairman of Kyochon F&B. Due to this connection, Chairman So had also visited the funeral hall on the afternoon of the 19th before the official condolence visit.

On the 20th, Kim Sang-jo, Chief of Staff to the President, along with other figures from politics and business, visited the funeral hall. Chief of Staff Kim conveyed that President Moon Jae-in said of the deceased, "He was a founding generation who laid the foundation of the Korean economy, from food to distribution and petrochemicals." He added, "The President highly praised his role as an economic bridge between Korea and Japan and requested that the Lotte Group continue to play a role in private diplomacy in Korea-Japan relations in the future."

Along with Chief of Staff Kim, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki visited the funeral hall and evaluated, "At a time when entrepreneurial spirit is desperately needed, the late chairman's challenging pioneering spirit and passionate management will resonate greatly going forward."

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun visited the funeral hall set up for Shin Kyuk-ho, Honorary Chairman of Lotte Group, at Seoul Asan Medical Center in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on the evening of the 20th to offer condolences to Shin Dong-bin, the chief mourner and Chairman of Lotte. (Photo by the Prime Minister's Office) [Image source=Yonhap News]

That afternoon, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and Liberty Korea Party leader Hwang Kyo-ahn coincidentally overlapped in their condolence visits and visited the funeral hall together. After about 15 minutes of condolence, Prime Minister Chung said, "It is difficult to say that I had a personal friendship with the deceased, but I was originally in business (Ssangyong Group), and he was a person who made today's Korea possible." He shared an anecdote about the late honorary chairman, saying, "When I was Minister of Industry and Resources, I had conversations with him about how to build a company and received guidance."

Leader Hwang said, "The deceased made great efforts for the country, traveling between Japan and Korea during difficult economic times," adding, "I hope that this will lead to improvements in the future relationship between the two countries, and I will make special efforts to revive the economy."

Business leaders paid their respects to the late honorary chairman as a senior entrepreneur and a key figure who led industrialization. Starting with Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, CJ Group Chairman and Korea Employers Federation Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Park Yong-man, LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-yeol, Asan Foundation Chairman Chung Mong-joon, and CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae-hyun visited the funeral hall.

Chairman Park Yong-man said, "He was one of the last of the founding generation who knew the arduous process of self-made success," adding, "I think about how difficult the process must have been to build today's Lotte."

Meanwhile, on the same day, Lotte Group Vice Chairman Hwang Kak-kyu, who worked closely with the late honorary chairman for 24 years, met with reporters to shed new light on his life. Vice Chairman Hwang introduced that although Lotte Group is known to have risen to the fifth largest conglomerate starting with 'gum,' its first venture was actually in cosmetics. He said, "After achieving some success in the cosmetics business, the chewing gum business began, and during this process, the philosophy of maintaining credit was emphasized," adding, "At that time, a certain Japanese general trading company helped a lot, and we still do business with that company, building credit."

He conveyed that the late honorary chairman emphasized challenges during his lifetime. Vice Chairman Hwang said, "In the past, his favorite word was 'challenge,'" adding, "He often talked about passion in the way of working, saying that even if you don't know the way of working, you can't do anything without passion. He said this a lot 40 years ago."

The late honorary chairman passed away at 4:29 p.m. on the 19th at the age of 99. The funeral will be held as a group funeral to honor the founder of Lotte Group, with the funeral procession scheduled for 6 a.m. on the 22nd. After the procession, a memorial service will be held at 7 a.m. on the 22nd at the Lotte Concert Hall on the 8th floor of Lotte World Mall in Seoul.