Shin Dong-joo, former vice chairman of Japan's Lotte Holdings, has filed a shareholder derivative lawsuit against the company's management, including his brother Shin Dong-bin, in a Japanese court. A shareholder derivative lawsuit refers to a legal action initiated by a shareholder on behalf of the company to hold the management accountable for their mistakes and to compensate for damages.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on the 5th, Shin stated in a complaint submitted to the Tokyo District Court the previous day that the chairman faced a guilty verdict in Korea in 2019 for allegedly bribing former President Park Geun-hye, which led to a decline in the company's credit rating and financial losses.
Shin criticized the Lotte Holdings management for their negligence in responding to this matter and demanded that approximately 14 billion yen (about 1.32 billion won) be paid to the company.
At a press conference the previous day, Shin said, 'I will clarify the responsibilities of the chairman and the management to promote normalization of operations.'
The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Lotte Holdings stated, 'We will refrain from commenting as the complaint has not yet been delivered.'
Meanwhile, Shin attempted to propose his appointment as a director and amendments to the articles of incorporation at last month's Lotte Holdings shareholder meeting; however, all proposals were rejected, resulting in his failure to return to management. Since 2016, he has not had a single proposal approved in a total of 11 shareholder meetings.