LOTTE Group is focusing on management innovation. This follows LOTTE Chairman Shin Dong-bin saying at the presidents' meeting on Jul. in this rapidly changing era, not changing is risky, and strategies based on future forecasting and swift execution must be secured. The group's 2026 regular executive appointments on the 26th were carried out in the same vein. Noh Jun-hyung, who has been in charge of management innovation at LOTTE Corporation, was nominated as co-CEO of LOTTE Corporation.
According to LOTTE Group on the 28th, two of the key keywords for management innovation are artificial intelligence (AI) and global. To that end, it proclaimed an AI Ethics Charter. The AI Ethics Charter is intended to prevent social issues that may arise related to AI.
The core values are six: ▲ respect for humanity ▲ safety ▲ transparency ▲ fairness ▲ responsibility ▲ solidarity. It is also based on AI ethics guidelines from UNESCO and the Ministry of Science and ICT and includes the statement, LOTTE adheres to proper conduct and ethical values throughout all processes utilizing AI, thereby contributing to a prosperous life for humanity.
LOTTE Group is also advancing its in-house AI platform, iMember. iMember 3.0 is characterized by a full redesign of the platform architecture reflecting an AI agent. An AI agent refers to AI that autonomously performs tasks to achieve specific goals. iMember 3.0 applies six core agent services in total and was designed by actively reflecting real work environments and feedback from on-site departments.
It is also running differentiated training programs to successfully enter global markets. In September, LOTTE held the 2025 LOTTE Global Conference for G-LIFT (hereafter LOTTE Global Conference) at LOTTE World Tower and the LOTTE Human Resources Development Institute Osan Campus for key local talent overseas. At this LOTTE Global Conference, 33 outstanding local employees from 15 affiliates, including LOTTE Wellfood, LOTTE Department Store, and LOTTE Hotel, participated and received theoretical and practical training over five days and four nights.
LOTTE Group's push into global markets is proceeding regardless of region. First, it is exploring entry into Africa, which is emerging as a blue-ocean market. Since Oct. last year, it has been running a Sustainable Kakao Bean Project in Ghana, Africa. It is a project to improve farm cultivation environments for the sustainable procurement of Kakao, the raw material for chocolate.
LOTTE GRS is working to expand the footprint of K-burgers. In August, it signed a partnership agreement with Serai Group, which operates a local food and beverage (F&B) business, to enter Malaysia with Lotteria. It also signed a master franchise agreement with the F&B group Katrina to enter Singapore. In August, it also opened the first Lotteria store in Fullerton City in Orange County, California.
LOTTE Wellfood rolled out a global integrated marketing campaign in key hub cities at home and abroad, including New York, Los Angeles, Hanoi, and Seoul, to mark Pepero Day. On Nov. 11, Pepero Day, it held the Welcome to K-Sweet Holiday festival at Father Duffy Square in Times Square, New York. The event was designed so that consumers worldwide could enjoy Pepero Day, which is expanding beyond a Korean observance into a global culture of sharing.
It is also actively taking part in global events to showcase the group's new growth engines. On the 3rd, LOTTE participated in the Japan Mobility Show 2025. This was LOTTE's first time taking part in a mobility event held overseas. Seven companies, including LOTTE Chemical, LOTTE Energy Materials, LOTTE Innovate, and LOTTE Global Logistics, participated to introduce LOTTE's envisioned future mobility value chain based on eco-friendly energy. Under the theme L.Mobility Panorama, LOTTE divided its presentation into a Mobility Value Chain Exhibition Zone and a Mobility Experience Zone to comprehensively promote the group's mobility businesses, including eco-friendly energy and Autonomous Driving.
In June, it also attended The Consumer Goods Forum 2025 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Consumer Goods Forum is a global consortium of the consumer goods industry established in 1953, with more than 400 consumer goods manufacturers and distributors from over 70 countries registered as members. This time, CEOs from the Korea and Japan LOTTE group companies attended together to highlight the group's competitiveness based on One LOTTE synergy. Korea and Japan LOTTE have been collaborating in various areas, including raw material procurement, product exports, and joint marketing, since the One LOTTE Food Companies Strategy Meeting chaired by LOTTE Chairman Shin Dong-bin in Aug. last year.