authorities did not shut down Lotte’s five de-
partment stores in China—a sign that perhaps
the storm will blow over. Back in Seoul, Lotte
last month opened the 123-story Lotte World
Tower, the world’s fifth-tallest building, on
the 50th anniversary of the founding of the
empire.
Dong-Bin, who wrested control of the em-
pire from his brother in a bitter battle and will
make the tower his headquarters, attributed
the difficulties with China to a “misunder-
standing.” Lotte, he has said, had no choice but
to go along with the government’s demand for
the golf course. A group spokeswoman denies
any arrangement in which prosecutors and
judges would go easy on the family in return
for Lotte’s cooperation on THAAD. Lotte Duty
Free lost 15% of its sales in March, compared
with March of last year, says a Duty Free
spokesman. “We will get back our Chinese
customers —it is a matter of time,” he says. “We
are projecting it will go on six months.”27
CHUNG YONG-JIN
$1.25 BILLION S
E-MART & SHINSEGAE
AGE: 48
28
SHIN DONG-JOO
$1.24 BILLION T
LOTTE AGE: 63
29
HUR YOUNG-IN
$1.23 BILLION T
PARIS-CROISSANT FOOD
AGE: 67
30
SHIN DONG-BIN
$1.22 BILLION T
LOTTE AGE: 62
31
KOO BON-NEUNG
$1.2 BILLION S
HEESUNG AGE: 68
32
CHO JUNG-HO
$1.18 BILLION
MERITZ FINANCIAL GROUP
AGE: 58
33
CHEY KI-WON
$1.13 BILLION
SK HOLDINGS AGE: 52
34
LEE HAE-JIN
$1.12 BILLION S
NAVER AGE: 49
35
CHO YANG-RAI
$1.08 BILLION
HANKOOK TIRE AGE: 79
36
LEE SANG-HYUK
$1.05 BILLION
YELLO MOBILE AGE: 45
37
CHO CHANG-GUL
$1.01 BILLION S
HANSSEM AGE: 77
38
MICHAEL KIM
$1 BILLION S
MBK PARTNERS AGE: 53THE LIST
SUP MORE THAN 10% TDOWN MORE THAN 10%
ÌNEW TO LIST 3 RETURNEECollateral damage: one of 74 Lotte stores shut down by China to protest antimissile deployment.