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Lotte Group brand hit by Lotte Card hack, despite no longer being major shareholder

Published: 21 Sep. 2025, 14:01

Lotte logo [LOTTE]

Lotte Group is reeling from reputational damage stemming from the recent hacking incident at Lotte Card — despite the company no longer being part of the group.

“The damage from the Lotte Card hacking incident is spilling over to Lotte Group,” Lotte Group said in a press release on Sunday. “Lotte Card’s majority shareholder is MBK Partners, and the company is not a Lotte Group affiliate. Yet brand value erosion due to customer confusion is becoming severe.”

Lotte Card was sold to MBK Partners in 2019, following the Lotte Group's restructuring into a holding company in 2017, which no longer permitted it to hold shares in financial and insurance subsidiaries under Korean law.

“It has been six years since MBK Partners acquired Lotte Card, but many customers still mistakenly believe it is a Lotte affiliate,” said a Lotte Group official. “This hacking incident is causing Lotte to suffer significant tangible and intangible damage that will be difficult to recover from.”

Lotte is concerned about customer attrition and a decline in brand trust. “Lotte Card handles the issuance of cards exclusively for Lotte Group employees, and the personal information of some employees was leaked in the breach,” the company said. “From Lotte Group’s perspective, this is a serious issue.”

The group said it has formally protested to Lotte Card over the damage to its brand and urged the company to take action to minimize customer harm.

In response, Lotte Card sent an official letter to the Lotte Group on Sept. 18, including an apology from its CEO regarding the cybersecurity breach. In the letter, CEO Cho Jwa-jin said, “As CEO of Lotte Card, I deeply apologize for causing concern to Lotte Group and its employees,” adding, “We are also sincerely sorry for the inconvenience and distress caused to Lotte Group’s valued customers.”

Regarding the disruption to Lotte’s operations caused by the incident, Cho pledged to personally manage the situation until it is fully resolved.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KANG KI-HEON [[email protected]]