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| Lotte Group Vice Chairman Lee In-won, center, cuts a cake with Lotte Corp. CEO Noh Byung-yong, second from left, and other group executives during a ceremony to mark the first anniversary of Lotte World Mall in southern Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of Lotte Corp. |
By Lee Hyo-sik
Lotte World Mall in southern Seoul celebrated its first anniversary Thursday, putting behind a series of safety-related mishaps that dogged the country's largest shopping and entertainment attraction over the past year.
Lotte Mart and Avenuel first opened their doors on Oct. 14, 2014, followed by Lotte Cinema, Lotte Duty Free and others in subsequent days.
However, large parts of the mega mall were forced to shut for five months beginning in December after a series of accidents including a water leak at the aquarium, tremors felt in the theater and cracks in the mall's floor.
Soon after Lotte World Mall reopened in May, the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) hit it hard as people refrained from going to crowded places such as movie theaters and department stores.
Despite all these unfavorable events, the shopping and entertainment complex has attracted a total of 28.2 million visitors over the past year, with daily visits recently reaching as many as 90,000, according to Lotte Corp. which oversees the construction and operation of the mall.
The company said Lotte World Mall attracted about 2 million Chinese and other foreign tourists over the past year, which also provided a much-needed boost to nearby merchants and other hospitality-related establishments.
"We posted 1.15 trillion won in sales for the past year, despite the five-month-long business suspension," Lotte Corp. CEO Noh Byung-yong said during a ceremony to mark the first anniversary. "We estimate that Lotte World Mall brought about economic effects worth 3.4 trillion won by creating jobs and increasing the sales of our partners and nearby businesses in southern Seoul."
The CEO said Korea's largest shopping mall has become a landmark in Seoul, adding that when the construction of Lotte World Tower is completed in October 2016, the facilities will emerge as a global tourist attraction.
The 123-story, 555-meter-tall Lotte World Tower, when completed, will become the world's sixth-tallest manmade structure, featuring upscale offices, a luxury hotel and an observatory, Noh said. "We are doing everything we can to get the job done in a safe manner. We are proud of being part of the unprecedented endeavor to create Korea's tallest building."
In celebration of Lotte World Mall's first anniversary, Lotte Corp. and various retail brands at the mall launched a full-scale sales promotion campaign, which will continue through November.
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