Four Lotte retail stores closed after 'inspections'

Seoul

SOUTH Korea's Lotte Group said on Monday four of its retail stores in China were closed after inspections by authorities, as Seoul protests at discriminating action by China after Lotte agreed to provide land for a US missile defence system.

China is the biggest overseas market for Lotte Group, South Korea's No 5 conglomerate, generating annual sales of a little more than three trillion Korean won (S$3.7 billion) in 2015.

A Lotte Mart spokesman said the four stores, in Dandong, Changzhou and two other locations, were closed last week after the inspections, but could not provid…