Lotte Chilsung Beverage's Gwangju Plant, a Local Manufacturing Driver, Set to Close This Year

Lotte Chilsung's Gwangju plant, which began operations in October 1984, will be closed this year. Yonhap News Agency

The closure of Lotte Chilsung Beverage's Gwangju plant, which has driven local manufacturing for over 40 years, has been decided.

According to Lotte Chilsung Beverage on January 7, the company has decided to close the Gwangju plant, which was built in 1984 to exclusively supply beverages and alcoholic drinks to the Honam region, within this year.

After internal discussions that began last year, the company developed a closure plan and decided to halt operations at two of its six plants nationwide-those located in Gwangju and Opo.

Lotte Chilsung plans to transform the remaining four plants (Anseong, Anseong 2, Yangsan, and Daejeon) into key production bases by either increasing their output or improving working conditions.

Although there were concerns in the local community that the Gwangju plant might close as early as March, Lotte Chilsung Beverage stated that the specific timing of the closure has not yet been determined.

The company explained that while it is true that two plants will be closed within this year, the exact timing for each plant will be decided through negotiations with their respective labor unions.

With the closure confirmed, the 20 employees responsible for production work at the Gwangju plant will be reassigned to other plants in different regions that will remain operational.

Before the plant ceases operations, the company will survey employees about their preferred reassignment locations and will do its best to accommodate their preferences.

Relocation and return travel expenses resulting from the change in workplace will be covered, and if necessary, company housing near the new workplace will also be provided.

The Gwangju plant, which opened in 1984, has served as a key production base supplying beverages and alcoholic drinks to the Honam region for 42 years. The site covers 68,792 square meters and has two production lines that manufacture an average of 240,000 cans of beverages and 180,000 bottles of alcoholic drinks per day.

The plant has also functioned as a warehouse for storing finished products manufactured in other regions before distributing them to retailers in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, serving as an employment hub for about 200 people, including roughly 100 in logistics and 100 in sales.

A Lotte Chilsung Beverage representative stated, "The decision to close the plant is part of a restructuring effort aimed at improving company-wide working conditions through production efficiency."