Japan Supreme Court Rejects Appeal by Lotte Brother, Yonhap Says

(Bloomberg) -- Japan’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal by former Lotte Group executive Shin Dong-joo, who sought compensation for being ousted from posts in the retail-to-chemicals conglomerate, Yonhap News reported on Sunday.

Shin, the eldest son of founder Shin Kyuk-ho, had sought 620 million yen ($5.8 million) over what he called his unfair dismissal as a board member at units of the company between December 2014 and January 2015, Yonhap said. A call to Japan’s Supreme Court outside business hours was not answered.

The ruling may help end a years-long feud between Shin Dong-joo and his brother Shin Dong-bin, current Lotte Group chairman, over control of a conglomerate with bases in South Korea and Japan. The battle turned partly on disputes over their father’s intentions for who would run the company. It fed into a broader bribery and corruption scandal that led to convictions in South Korea of Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin, 64, and 96-year-old Shin Kyuk-ho.

Shin Dong-bin was freed in October 2018 after his 30-month prison term was suspended. Shin Dong-joo, 65, was acquitted in the case.

Lotte Holdings Co., the company’s Tokyo-based unit, has its annual shareholder meeting scheduled for June 26, where Shin Dong-joo is expected to demand his return to the board, Yonhap said.

--With assistance from Chikafumi Hodo.

To contact the reporter on this story: Heejin Kim in Seoul at hkim579@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Divya Balji at dbalji1@bloomberg.net, Dave McCombs, Shamim Adam

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