China ends sanctions on Lotte two years after South Korean retailer cedes land to US missile defences
- Shenyang grants Lotte permission to complete US$2.6 billion leisure development
- Company angered Beijing by agreeing to give land to US military for missiles
China lifted its economic sanctions on South Korean retailer Lotte last month, more than two years after the company angered Beijing by yielding land for the deployment of a US anti-missile defence system in South Korea.
The municipal government of Shenyang, the capital of northeastern Liaoning province, gave the company permission last month to resume work on the US$2.6 billion Lotte Town shopping and leisure development, a spokesman for South Korea’s biggest retailer said on Thursday.
A final decision on whether construction would restart had yet to be made, the spokesman said. “We will closely observe the recent developments and will make the decision accordingly.”
The Shenyang government did not respond to requests for comment.
Lotte completed the first phase – a department store and a cinema – in 2014. The second phase – which included a theme park, flats and a hotel – stalled after Seoul agreed in 2016 to a long-standing US request to allow the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system (THAAD) to be deployed on South Korean soil.
