Japanese shareholders of Lotte Group have endorsed group chairman Shin Dong-bin’s proposal to reform corporate governance, solidifying Shin’s control over the group.
 
Lotte Holdings, the de facto holding company of South Korea’s fifth largest conglomerate, said Monday that it held a tentative shareholders’ meeting earlier in the day in Tokyo, passing two proposals that seek to hire an external board of directors and reaffirm the group’s commitment to a management grounded in law and principles.
 
In a statement announced after the meeting, Shin apologized to both the South Korean and Japanese public, adding that through the decision the company would be able to improve management transparency. 
 
Shin also said he would not let family issues intervene in the management of the group, although he claimed that the group’s personnel policies, such as recruitment or dismissal of employees, has been determined through due process at the board of directors’ and shareholders’ meetings.
 
The shareholders’ decision has affirmed that Shin has the upper hand over his elder brother Dong-joo in the management of the group. However, it remains to be seen whether Dong-joo, a former vice chairman of the group, will file a lawsuit to nullify the decisions.
 
The Shin brothers have been mired in a family feud for months over the rights to succeed their father and Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho, causing significant damage to the group’s prestige in the process. The elder Shin founded Lotte in Japan and has operated businesses in both South Korea and Japan.