Land deal could cost Lotte Group dearly

The Republic of Korea's retail giant Lotte Group could see its business in China drop sharply if its board approves a land swap deal with the Korean government for the deployment of a US-made anti-missile system, experts warned.

Lotte Group held a first meeting of the board early this month to discuss the land swap with Seoul's Defense Ministry after a golf course the company owned was selected as the site to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system. The board reached no conclusion, and the date of the next meeting has yet to be decided.

Beijing is firmly opposed to THAAD deployment on the peninsula, saying that it will damage China's security interests as well as the regional strategic balance.