'Skyscraper curse' claims new victim in Lotte's 4t won tower in Seoul

Seoul

THE glass-bottomed observation deck sitting 118 stories up in the Seoul sky isn't for the faint of heart. That condition would apply to the tower's builder, the beleaguered Lotte Group, as well.

After almost seven years of planning and four trillion won (S$5 billion) in spending, the conglomerate is preparing to unwrap its Lotte World Tower to the public. The building boasts some record-setting amenities: highest glass floor at the top of a building and highest swimming pool.

Yet the debut couldn't come at a worse time for Lotte, the chaebol with US$81 billion in revenue that may be the latest victim of what's called the "skyscraper curse".

The empire's 94-year-old founder and three of his children face corruption charges, and its stores are at the epicentre of Chinese consumer retaliation for a US missile-d…