SEOUL, South Korea — When South Korean Chung Yu-suk read an article about retailer Lotte’s chocolate ads featuring a Japanese figure skating star, he was so angered he started an online group urging Koreans to boycott their country’s top retailer.
Chung is one of a growing number of South Koreans vowing to punish Lotte after a family battle for control of the company spilled out in public and highlighted deep links to Japan, Korea’s former colonizer.
The choice of Japanese skater Mao Asada for the advertisement that first appeared years ago was not surprising because it was aimed at the Japanese market, where Lotte also has businesses.
But in South Korea, it reinforced perceptions Lotte is more Japanese than Korean, particularly because Asada is considered the chief rival of the South’s beloved Kim Yuna, an Olympic gold medalist.
“I don’t understand how Lotte Japan picked her knowing that she would compete with Kim Yuna,” said Chung, a self-employed 45-year-old who lives in Daegu, in the country’s southeast.
The battle for control of Lotte pits the family’s youngest scion against its aging patriarch and his oldest son.
As the brothers appeared in public to blame each other for the increasingly ugly power struggle, South Koreans were reminded of two facts they found unpalatable: Neither of the men who both claim they are South Korean speaks Korean fluently and the holding company of Lotte is based in Japan with Japanese shareholders.
It’s unclear how damaging the boycott call will be for Lotte in South Korea, where the company earns most of its profits. But the anti-Lotte activists have chosen an opportune moment to ignite sentiment against the company.
