Seoul should recognize it is in same boat as Beijing

The Republic of Korea's fifth-largest conglomerate Lotte Group announced on Friday that it will sell some of its Chinese stores, and could dispose of all of them; a move that is no more than recognition of a fait accompli since Lotte agreed in February to provide land for the installation of the United States' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense antimissile system in the ROK.

Following that decision, more than 80 percent of its hypermart stores in China have reportedly been closed, which has cost Lotte hundreds of millions of dollars.

Yet China can take no comfort in Lotte's business woes in the country, as the move serves neither side any good. For Lotte to exit the hypermarket business in China means it is abandoning a previously thriving market. Although the company's other businesses in China will continue to operate as before, its hypermarts have accounted for about 30 percent of the company's revenue in China, its largest overseas market. And the closure and sale of its stores means about 20,000 Chinese employed by Lotte will lose their jobs, as well as lost opportunities for hundreds of Chinese suppliers.