If Proven Guilty
The goodwill of Lotte Duty Free Shop in Lotte World Tower is confronting a crisis to be canceled. As Shin Dong-Bin, chairman of Lotte, is suspected of giving a bribe of 7 billion won (US$6.3 million) to former President Park Geun-hye and Choi Soon-sil in exchange for permission for the duty free shop, the Korea Customs Service said it will cancel the license of the duty-free shop when the money is confirmed as a bribe.
A spokesman for the Korea Customs Service announced on April 24 that if the bribe allegation related to Lotte’s duty-free shop in Jamsil in Seoul is found guilty in court, the Korea Customs Service will deprive Lotte of the duty-free shop license according to the criteria announced at the time of bidding. In early December of last year, the Korea Customs Service issued a bidding policy saying, "If a company suspected of any wrongdoing is selected as a duty-free shop business operator in the review, its license will be revoked because it is considered that there was a false or corrupt act that corresponds to a reason for license cancellation.
On April 17, the prosecution put chairman Shin Dong-bin on trial on the charge of bribing former President Park and Choi Soon-sil in exchange for a license for Lotte Duty Free in Jamsil, Seoul.
If the goodwill of the duty-free shop is canceled, Lotte will lose 1-plus trillion won (over US$ 1 billion) in annual sales. If Lotte is found guilty of offering the bribe, it will deal a big blow to the Lotte Group under the circumstances where a significant drop in Chinese tourists to Lotte due to China’s recent retaliations over South Korea’s decision to deploy the THAAD system has halved its sales. It is also predicted that Lotte Hotel, which relies on the duty-free business division for more than 90% of its profits will be hardly listed on the stock market.