Beyond "Future Businesses" to "One Lotte": Shin Yu-yeol's Succession Training Enters Act Two

[Korea Financial Times, Park seulgi] Shin Yu-yeol, Head of the Future Growth Office (Executive Vice President) at Lotte Corporation, has entered the second act of his succession training. He is set to serve as board chairman of a joint venture between the Korean and Japanese Lotte food affiliates, which launches in Singapore this July. The appointment is part of the "Korea-Japan One Lotte Strategy," a core initiative championed by Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, and has drawn attention as Shin Yu-yeol steps into a frontline management role as board chairman. Observers note that Shin, who has primarily led new business initiatives such as future growth strategy and bio ventures, is now broadening his management scope by taking on responsibility for food — the group's traditional core business — as well as the challenge of integrating Korean and Japanese operations.

According to Lotte Group on July 2, a joint venture between the Korean and Japanese Lotte food affiliates will launch in Singapore in early July. Lotte Wellfood and Japan's Lotte Confectionery recently completed board resolutions at both companies and secured antitrust clearance from the relevant regulatory authorities.

The launch of the joint venture stems from Chairman Shin Dong-bin's regularly convened "One Lotte Food Strategy Meetings," where he called for strengthened global competitiveness through cooperation between the two companies. The decision reflects a judgment that, as growth in the domestic markets of Korea and Japan slows, overseas business must become a core growth driver.
The new entity will oversee the Asian operations of the Korean and Japanese Lotte food businesses. Its central role is to unify the previously separate management and decision-making structures across business lines, and to link the production, sales, and logistics infrastructure of both companies to pursue global markets.

Shin will take the frontline as board chairman of the new entity. His task will be to drive synergy between the food businesses of both countries and lead overseas business strategy. Lotte stated that the new joint venture "plans to cultivate global mega brands, improve efficiency across the production and sales process — from raw material procurement to logistics and marketing — launch new products through joint R&D, and pursue strategic entry into new markets with high growth potential."

Widening Management Scope: From Future Businesses to Food

Shin's management training began in 2020, when he joined Lotte Japan the same year that Honorary Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho passed away. He subsequently gained experience across various fields — including sales, planning, and management — at Lotte Japan, Lotte Holdings Japan, and Lotte Chemical's Japanese subsidiary, and accumulated broad management experience in Japan's operations while serving as CEO of Lotte Financial Japan and Lotte Realty.

He first established a presence in Korea's management ranks when he was appointed Head of the Future Growth Office (Senior Managing Director) at Lotte Corporation in the group's regular year-end executive reshuffle at the end of 2023. At the same time, he took on the role of Head of Global Strategy at Lotte Biologics, assuming responsibility for securing new growth engines — including the group's future growth strategy, new business development, and cultivation of the bio business. He currently serves as co-CEO of Lotte Biologics alongside CEO James Park, jointly leading the bio business, one of the group's major new growth ventures.
At the time Shin was expected to formally join Korea's management ranks, industry watchers speculated he might take charge of the retail division, after he accompanied Chairman Shin on a business trip to Vietnam and toured sites including the soon-to-open Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi.

Contrary to expectations, however, Lotte assigned Shin to new business ventures rather than retail, directing the focus of his succession training toward discovering future growth opportunities by tasking him with overseeing the group's future growth strategy and new businesses.

This latest appointment as board chairman of the Korea-Japan food joint venture carries significant symbolic weight, as it marks an expansion of Shin's role from new business ventures to one of the group's core businesses. Having previously received management training centered on future growth and new ventures such as bio, he is now also responsible for food — Lotte's core business — as well as the key task of driving Korea-Japan business synergy under the "One Lotte" strategy.

Industry observers say that Shin taking on responsibility for the group's core businesses and the Korea-Japan management integration task, beyond new ventures, signals that the scope of his management evaluation is steadily expanding.

Born in 1986, Shin holds Japanese citizenship. He completed kindergarten through high school at Aoyama Gakuin, considered one of Japan's elite schools, before graduating from Keio University. He began his career at Nomura Securities in Japan before earning an MBA from Columbia University in the United States — following the same path once taken by his father, Chairman Shin Dong-bin.

A Lotte official said, "This joint venture allows us to consolidate the Asian business capabilities of the Korean and Japanese Lotte food operations into one. We plan to combine the strengths of both companies to jointly cultivate mega brands, pioneer new markets, and enhance our global competitiveness."

Park seulgi (seulgi@fntimes.com)