2012110847

Date of submission: April 12 2016

Lotte chairman cleared of business

obstruction charges
Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin of the charges that he obstructed business, the latest in a
series of developments related to the long, drawn-out family feud within South Korea's largest retail
giant. He has been mired in a succession battle with his elder brother Dong-joo, who has waged a
series of legal battles and negative media campaigns after being stripped of his senior posts in the
Tokyo-based Lotte Holdings in early 2015. The decision came a few weeks after Shin Kyuk-ho lost his
seat on the board of Hotel Lotte, as shareholders agreed not to reappoint him upon the expiration of
his term. In the previous week, the group founder also lost his board seat at Lotte Confectionery Co., a
key food unit under the family-run conglomerate with businesses in South Korea and Japan. Shin Kyukho's representatives said the prosecutors' move was made too hastily without a thorough examination
of related figures, adding they will consider appealing the decision.