[Courtesy of Lotte Mart]
SEOUL -- South Korea's Lotte Group considers scaling down its department store business in China following the withdrawal of its troubled hypermarket chain hit by a prolonged consumer boycott.
Lotte Shopping, the operator of Lotte Mart and Lotte Department Store, said Monday that of five department stores in China, it may sell the operating rights of two in Tianjin and one in Weihai due to losses. The two other department stores in Chengdu and Shenyang would remain intact.
The department store in Shenyang is part of the wider Lotte World Shenyang project including a theme park and entertainment complexes. Lotte has already decided to wrap up its hypermarket business in China.
Lotte has invested an enormous amount of money in China. But it became the prime target of China's retaliatory onslaught for allowing US troops to set up a missile shield in its golf course in 2016. Seoul and Beijing agreed to normalize relations under an agreement in October last year, but Chinese steps have been gradual.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
