[On Site] Rising Tension Among Lotte Executives... Stern Faces, Silent Responses

Major Subsidiary CEOs Remain Silent
Likely to Discuss Reform and Competitiveness Recovery

On the 9th, a tense atmosphere filled the entrance of the Lotte World Tower office building in Songpa-gu, Seoul. The key representatives of major affiliates who arrived in the afternoon to attend Lotte Group's first half of the year executive meeting, VCM (Value Creation Meeting), all wore stern expressions.

Lotte Group holds VCM twice a year, in the first and second halves. This VCM was attended by about 80 people, including Chairman Shin Dong-bin, CEO and heads of Lotte Holdings, general managers of business divisions, and representatives of affiliates.

Since this VCM was held shortly after liquidity crisis rumors about Lotte Group surfaced at the end of last year, most attendees entered with heavy expressions.

Jung Junho, CEO of Lotte Department Store, is entering the 2025 first half VCM (Value Creation Meeting, formerly the Presidents' Meeting) held at Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 9th. Photo by Lee Myunghwan

Around 12:30 PM, Kang Sung-hyun, CEO of Lotte Mart, who entered the Lotte World Tower, did not respond to reporters' questions about the meeting content and proceeded to the conference room. Nam Chang-hee, CEO of Lotte Hi-Mart, who entered with Kang, also refrained from speaking, saying, "I will talk later."

Some representatives entered the meeting room with somber expressions. Jeong Jun-ho, CEO of Lotte Department Store, who appeared just before the meeting time, entered with a stern face, ignoring reporters' questions about the meeting discussions. Park Ik-jin, CEO of Lotte On, also entered the meeting room in silence.

Lotte Group, engulfed in liquidity crisis rumors at the end of last year, is accelerating efforts to improve its financial structure. After resolving the risk of early redemption of Lotte Chemical's 2 trillion won corporate bonds, it recently began the process of selling Lotte Rental to a private equity fund.

At this VCM, Chairman Shin and the CEOs of major Lotte Group affiliates are expected to review last year's management performance and the group's status, and discuss strategies to find breakthroughs amid the global complex crisis and to enhance future business capabilities.

In his New Year's address on the 2nd, Chairman Shin emphasized the need for strong reform, stating, "We must restore the competitiveness of core businesses to overcome the current crisis and establish a foundation for sustainable growth." He also stressed the importance of improving financial soundness while innovating business from the customer's perspective, enhancing global brand value, and internalizing artificial intelligence (AI). Accordingly, innovation and reform to restore competitiveness, securing financial soundness, and strengthening AI utilization are expected to be key themes of this meeting.

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Meanwhile, Shin Yoo-yeol, the eldest son of Chairman Shin Dong-bin and Vice President of Lotte Holdings' Future Growth Office, headed to the meeting room early in the morning. As a senior executive of Lotte Holdings, Shin has been attending VCM since 2023. Before attending the meeting, he also visited the Lotte Innovate exhibition at CES 2025, the world's largest electronics and IT exhibition held in Las Vegas, USA, on the 7th (local time).

Before the VCM, an 'AI Project Showcase' introducing AI innovation cases within the group was also held. The showcase featured nine affiliates, including Lotte Innovate and Daehong Communications, presenting excellent AI utilization cases to the affiliate representatives.