Lotte Group vice chairman found dead before corruption probe

Local media reported that Lee took his own life. Yonhap quoted a note he left as saying that there was no slush fund, in an apparent response to prosecutors’ allegations. The report said a resident found his body on a mountain in the east of Seoul early Friday morning.

A police official who declined to give his name said the police were investigating the case as a possible suicide. The official confirmed Lee left a note but refused to comment on its contents. Lotte could not confirm the report.

The ongoing investigation and the death of its long-time executive is the latest challenge for Lotte Group, with two sons of Lotte’s 93-year-old founder, Shin Kyuk-ho, already embroiled in a bitter battle over control of the group.

In a rare public display of a family feud among South Korean business elites, the younger son, Shin Dong-bin, 61, last year demoted his father to honorary chairman from general chairman overseeing Lotte’s businesses in Japan and South Korea. His older brother, Shin Dong-joo, 62, was removed from executive positions at various Lotte companies and then launched several failed attempts to take back the group from his younger brother.

The younger Shin, now chairman at Lotte Group, apologized publicly in June, days after prosecutors raided Lotte’s headquarters. The investigation was a setback for Shin Dong-bin who had vowed to make his group and its governance transparent as public criticism mounted because of the fight with his brother.

Lee In-won was a top aide to Shin Dong-bin.

Lotte started as a chewing gum company in Japan in 1948. It now operates businesses in chemicals, food, shopping and hotels, including South Korea’s largest discount and department store chains. Its brands are well recognized not only in Japan and South Korea but around Southeast Asia.

Deaths of high-profile political or business figures facing legal investigations or corruption charges are not uncommon. In 2009, former President Roh Moo-hyun killed himself amid a corruption scandal involving his family members.

Lee can be reached on Twitter: www.twitter.com/YKLeeAP

Her previous works can be found on: http://bigstory.ap.org/content/youkyung-lee

Youkyung Lee, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Lotte Group vice chairman found dead before corruption probe

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