South Korea’s Lotte keeps jailed chairman in key position

SEOUL: South Korean retail giant Lotte Group kept its jailed chairman in a key affiliate post Friday despite an effort by his brother to oust him, re-igniting a bitter family feud. The company has been assailed by scandal in recent years, with the founder’s two sons engaging in a vicious and public battle for control. The younger, Shin Dong-bin, ultimately prevailed, but was jailed for two and a half years in February in connection with the corruption scandal that brought down president Park Geun-hye. His brother Shin Dong-joo reopened hostilities Friday and tried to have his sibling ousted from the board of an important Japanese affiliate, only for shareholders to stick with the incarcerated executive. In a statement, Lotte said it was “relieved” at the decision that came despite what it called the “absence” of its chairman. “We hope to promptly overcome the current difficulties,” it added. South Korean business is dominated by the chaebol, sprawling but controversial family-run empires like Lotte Group, ranked fifth, and the biggest of them all Samsung.

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