신격호 辛格浩
Founder of the Lotte Group who built businesses in both Japan and Korea, starting from chewing gum
| Life | 1921 ~ 2020 |
| Era | 현대 |
| Clan | 영산 신씨 |
Life & career
Shin Kyuk-ho (1921-2020) was founder of the Lotte Group and belonged to the Yeongsan Sin clan. He was born in 1921 in the Yeongsan Sin village of Dungi-ri, Samdong-myeon, Ulsan County (now Ulju, Ulsan), the eldest of five sons and five daughters of Shin Jin-su and Kim Pil-sun. After primary school family circumstances kept him from further study; with an uncle's help he finished a two-year agricultural school.
He went to Japan in 1941 and in 1944 set up a plant making lathe oil that burned down in the war; after graduating from Waseda's evening chemistry course in 1946 he recovered through soap and cosmetics, then chewing gum, founding Lotte in Japan in 1948 and a gum factory in Shinjuku in 1950. Through the 1950s-70s he added affiliates such as Lotte Shoji, Lotte Real Estate and Lotteria.
He entered Korea in 1966 with Lotte Aluminium and founded Lotte Confectionery in 1967; Hotel Lotte followed in 1973, the Lotte Giants in 1975 and Lotte Shopping in 1979, extending into food, retail, tourism, construction and chemicals. In 1995 he received the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service, the first in tourism, and also the Mugunghwa Order. Lotte World Tower, his long-held wish, was completed in 2016.
In later years there was a management dispute between his sons Shin Dong-ju and Shin Dong-bin in 2015; he stepped down as chairman in June 2017 and became honorary chairman. Wikipedia records that in December 2017 he was sentenced to four years and a 3.5 billion won fine on management-irregularity charges but not detained for health reasons. He supported his home village and relatives, holding a village feast called Dungi-hoe from 1971. He died on 19 January 2020 at Asan Medical Center. His younger brother Shin Chun-ho founded Nongshim.
The Start of Lotte
He founded Lotte in Japan in 1948 on chewing gum and Lotte Confectionery in Korea in 1967.
Brother and Sons
His brother Shin Chun-ho founded Nongshim; his sons Shin Dong-bin and Shin Dong-ju are also businessmen.
Grave
His grave was not confirmed in these sources.
Descendants
Sons include Shin Dong-ju and Shin Dong-bin; younger brothers include Shin Chun-ho (Nongshim) and Shin Jun-ho.