Seoul, June 22 (Representative) Ambling across the Sky Deck at Lotte World Tower here is always alarming. However, if one resolves to walk on it, there is a probability of failure, because it is just scary to look down the deck. Lotte World Tower in South Korean capital Seoul is currently the world’s fifth tallest building. It stretches 556 meters into the skies and is the tallest building on the Korean peninsula. Its roofline is a bit higher than the pinnacle of one World Trade Center in NYC. On Wednesday night, a delegation of Indian journalists – including this UNI correspondent – was not only taken to the dizzying heights, but also presented details of how and why this majestic tower was built, and the melodrama of Lotte tycoon and his family. The elevator ride inside the tower is quite breathtaking and super fast, rising at 10 metres per second, thereby reaching the top in one minute and 8 seconds. The interior portion of the elevator has LCD screens that display outdoor scene and nice animations as the elevator rises. From the top of the tower, one can get to see how big Seoul really is. It sprawls out in every direction with only the mountainous terrain, parks, and waterways to break up the endless neighborhoods of high-rise apartment buildings.
The one piece that is tempting is the Sky Deck on the 118th floor. It is a large glass floor on which one can walk, but one needs to be daring. Walking out onto the Sky Deck is a different story, especially for those who have height phobia. Even standing at a distance, one often feels the grip of fear. The Lotte World Tower opened to the public in 2017, fulfilling a promise made by the Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-Ho. His personal life and the rise of the Lotte corporation is a fascinating rags-to-riches story. The Lotte brand is everywhere in Korea, from Lotte convenience stores to grocery stores to fancy department stores and to the Lotte World theme park which is visible just below the Lotte World Tower. Despite these huge achievements, Shin’s legacy was battered at the end of his life, even as his health was failing. His two sons fought each other for control of the company. The younger son Dong-Bin ended up wresting control of the company away from the older son Dong-Joo, Shin’s chosen heir. Soon after, criminal investigation resulted in the indictment and subsequent conviction of the elder Shin for embezzlement. Shin was sentenced to four years but was deemed too sick to serve the punishment. Dong-bin was also convicted in the scandal but received a suspended sentence.
Only months later Shin Dong-Bin was again in the news for all the wrong reasons as he was messed up in a massive bribery scandal that brought down the Korean President through a dramatic impeachment. He served a few months in prison before an appeals court upheld his conviction but released him early on a suspended sentence. He remains CEO of Lotte Group to this day. It is not surprising that Korean story writers and filmmakers get inspired by these dramatic real-life events. A few Korean TV shows often feature squabbling chaebol (business) families who mastermind ruthless business deals, break law regularly, and cling to power despite prison sentences. It is a captivating drama even for mainstream media. At the age of 98, Shin Kyuk-ho, the last of the original chaebol tycoons, breathed his last in January 2020. He has a special place among chaebol tycoons who masterminded the miraculous rise of modern Korea from the ashes of the Korean War. Despite the chequered history of the Lotte founder and its current CEO, the Lotte Tower certainly is impressive, especially at night when the lights that crisscross its lantern-shaped pinnacle change colours in a mesmerizing display. Certainly, the tower is synonymous with the seven beauties in the world, at least for Koreans!