Group founder is voted off Hotel Lotte board

Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-ho was removed from the board of Hotel Lotte, a de facto holding unit of Lotte’s Korean operations, during a shareholders meeting on Tuesday, a move that further cements Chairman Shin Dong-bin’s grip over Lotte Group.

The departure marks the first time the founder is not a part of the hospitality unit’s board since its 1973 inception. The move follows Lotte Confectionery’s decision earlier this month not to re-elect the founder as a registered board member.

Hotel Lotte confirmed that the issue concerning the founder was not proposed at the meeting held at the office of Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, central Seoul.

“The re-election of General Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho, whose term expired on March 28, was not discussed during the meeting,” the company said in a statement.

The meeting that started at 10 a.m. finished in 16 minutes.

Among the main agenda items were reports of final accounts for the 2015 fiscal year, the approval of financial statements and the re-election of other existing board directors.

The unlisted hotel unit is considered a key Lotte affiliate, as the unit is at the top of the complex corporate governance of Lotte’s Korean operations and holds a sizable amount of shares in Lotte Aluminum, Lotte Confectionery, Lotte Shopping and Lotte Construction & Engineering.

The founder’s standing is expected to get weaker as many industry watchers predict he will be stripped of his board seat at other key affiliates during upcoming shareholders meetings.

Shin Kyuk-ho’s term as a board member will end at other Lotte affiliates, including Lotte Shopping, Lotte Construction and Lotte Aluminum, next year.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]