Lotte Holdings vice chairman resigns abruptly

By Kim Jae-heun

Former Lotte Corporation Vice Chairman Hwang Kag-gyu

Lotte Corporation Vice Chairman Hwang Kag-gyu, also known as the right-hand man of Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, resigned abruptly on Thursday.

Hwang earned his position as Lotte Group's second-in-command after leading several successful merger and acquisition deals including with KT Rental and Samsung's chemistry firms.

His abdication is seen as an aberration as it is not the regular appointment season at Lotte and Hwang has been a close ally of Shin for quite a long time.

However, some industry insiders suspect that Hwang's position was being challenged by his colleague Song Yong-dok, as he competed for the same vice chairman title last December.

Recently, Lotte Corporation has been struggling in its chemical and retail businesses and Shin is pushing ahead with a plan to bring about a new working environment in the company while strengthening investment in e-commerce.

“Shin is trying to use Hwang's resignation as an opportunity to change the whole corporate system,” an industry source said.

Lotte Corporation failed to comment.

Meanwhile, Lotte Hi-Mart CEO Lee Dong-woo is expected to fill in Hwang's spot. Lee built his career at Lotte Department Store and has been leading the discount store brand since 2015. He has managed to achieve sales growth for Hi-Mart this year despite the COVID-19 pandemic.