Original title: Xin Gehao, founder of Lotte Group in Korea, died at the age of 99
Beijing, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) according to Korean media reports, Xin Gehao, founder and honorary president of South Korea Lotte Group, died on the 19th at the age of 99. In October 2019, he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for suspected corruption and dereliction of duty. He was executed outside prison because of his high age and poor physical condition.
Xin Gehao was born in Yushan City, Qingnan in 1921. He is the founder of Lotte Group. Lotte Group is regarded as a 'business giant' in South Korea. Its business involves real estate, hotels, department stores and other fields. It was first founded in Japan by Xin Gehao, an overseas Chinese living in Japan and South Korea.
In 1965, after the normalization of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan, Xin Gehao established Lotte fruit making company in South Korea in 1967, and gradually grew into today's Korea Lotte Group.
Xin Gehao has two sons, the eldest son Xin Dongzhu and the second son Xin Dongbin. At present, the actual controller of Lotte Group is Xin Dongbin.
Xin Gehao has been involved in judicial investigation for suspected illegal operation in recent years. In October 2018, the Korean high court made a second instance judgment on the case of Xin Gehao, sentenced him to 3 years' imprisonment and fined 3 billion won (about 18 million yuan). On October 17, 2019, the Korean Supreme Court sentenced him to three years' imprisonment and fined him 3 billion won.
On October 23, 2019, the central district attorney's office in Seoul, South Korea, determined that it was difficult for singho to serve his sentence in prison because of his high age, late Alzheimer's disease, inconvenient movement, inability to communicate, and the risk of rapid deterioration or even death. Therefore, he was executed outside prison for 6 months.