Lotte founder moving to nation's tallest skyscraper

By Park Jae-hyuk

Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-ho will move residence and office this week to Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, southeastern Seoul.

After establishing the group’s headquarters in 1978 in Sogong-dong, downtown Seoul, Shin has lived and worked at the 34th floor of Lotte Hotel in the area since the mid-1990s.

As the Fair Trade Commission still regards the founder as the head of the conglomerate, his transfer will have significant meaning for Lotte, which has been desperate to end the 40-year-long Sogong-dong era and embrace the Jamsil era.

The transfer has been postponed, due to a struggle between Shin’s two sons over control of the group.

Although former Tokyo-based Lotte Holdings Vice Chairman Shin Dong-joo, the founder’s eldest son, and Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin, the younger son, were embroiled in legal battle over their father’s residence, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the latter.

The chairman has already moved his residence and the group’s headquarters to the nation’s tallest skyscraper.

According to Lotte, the founder’s attorneys will decide the exact date of the move, considering the businessman’s health.

A 264.5-square-meter residential area on the 49th floor of the tower, where the founder will live, is one of the luxurious residences located between the building’s 42nd and 71st floors. A conference room and a secretary’s office will also be included in a 198.3-square-meter space.

Nurses and bodyguards will stay on the same floor to take care of the elderly man.

Lotte initially planned to offer the 114th floor to the founder.

However, it changed its plans, due to the delay of the interior design. The company said it tried its best to decorate the new room to be the same as the founder’s previous home.

The 123-story building is known as the 95-year-old entrepreneur’s grand scheme.

He bought the land for the tower in 1987, but its construction took 30 years to complete. The government had cited risks of airplanes from Seoul Air Base colliding with the tower.

However, Shin did not give up on his dream of establishing a world-class landmark in Seoul, and the government finally approved the construction in 2008.

Despite his age, the founder visited the construction site frequently, showing his keen interest in the tower.