Around 1 p.m. on the 15th at Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, Seoul. Black corporate vehicles arrived one after another at the building entrance. Executives from Lotte affiliates stepped out of the cars and, keeping their answers brief to reporters' questions, headed to the conference room with determined expressions.
Starting at 2 p.m. that day, Lotte Group opened its first-half 2026 VCM (Value Creation Meeting, formerly the presidents' meeting) chaired by Chairman Shin Dong-bin. The VCM is a meeting where all Lotte affiliates gather to share the group's mid- to long-term goals and strategies, and it is held once each in the first and second halves of the year.
About 80 people attended the VCM, including the CEO and Deputy Minister of LOTTE Corporation and the heads of affiliates. Shin Yoo-yeol, the chairman's eldest son and a co-CEO of Lotte Biologics, was also said to have attended. Shin, a vice president, has been appearing at the VCM since 2023.
At this VCM, the Lotte Future Strategy Research Institute will present changes in domestic and overseas business conditions and directions for response. LOTTE Corporation CEOs Noh Jun-hyung and Ko Jeong-wook will share this year's group business strategy and group financial strategy. There will also be discussions on plans to strengthen HR (human resources).
The business environment surrounding Lotte's key affiliates remains challenging. LOTTE Chemical, a core affiliate, has posted losses for nine consecutive quarters due to a global industry downturn. As the slump has dragged on, credit rating agencies downgraded LOTTE Chemical's rating, and the holding company LOTTE Corporation and second-largest shareholder Lotte Property & Development also saw sequential downgrades.
In the retail sector, department stores and some businesses are showing signs of improvement, but offline retail such as hypermarkets and supermarkets, as well as e-commerce, continue to post losses.
This VCM is drawing attention as the first to be held after Lotte Group's large-scale reshuffling of personnel and organizational restructuring. Chairman Shin is expected to convey management policies to achieve business goals and the group's mid- to long-term operating strategy to the CEOs attending the meeting.
Earlier, over 2024–2025, Lotte carried out the largest-ever round of personnel changes over two years. In the regular year-end reshuffle last year, CEOs were replaced at 20 of 62 affiliates, and all vice chairmen who had led each business group resigned en masse. In the reshuffle at the end of 2024 before that, 21 CEOs also stepped down.
Also last year, through an organizational overhaul, Lotte abolished the business headquarters (HQ) system that had been in place for nine years since the launch of LOTTE Corporation in 2017. The goal is to strengthen independent management by affiliates to respond quickly to change and focus on enhancing the fundamental competitiveness of core businesses.
In his New Year's address early this year, Chairman Shin said, "This year's business environment we face, including the 'three highs' of high inflation, high interest rates and a strong dollar, geopolitical risks, and demographic shifts, demands a fundamental overhaul of the group's core businesses." He also stressed that growth and innovation efforts rooted in thorough self-reflection are needed for the group's qualitative growth.
Shin also said, "We have talked about the need for innovation, but it has not led to tangible results," and urged, "Let's close the gap between planning and execution and make this year a year to lay the groundwork for sustainable growth."
Meanwhile, before the VCM that day, Chairman Shin, along with the CEO and Deputy Minister of LOTTE Corporation, laid flowers and observed a moment of silence at the bust of Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho installed on the first floor of Lotte World Tower, marking the sixth anniversary of his passing (Jan. 19, 2020). The attendees reaffirmed their resolve to overcome current difficulties by recalling the founder Shin's spirit of challenge and management philosophy, which found opportunities amid crises and grew the group.