Duty-free giants that targeted Chinese visitors embroiled in South Korea’s presidential scandal
SK and Lotte last year lost some of their licences to run duty-free businesses and were seeking to win them back in December
South Korean prosecutors on Thursday raided the finance ministry and the headquarters of two of the country’s most powerful companies in connection with a snowballing corruption scandal engulfing President Park Geun-hye.
SK – the South’s third-largest conglomerate – and the number five Lotte have been accused of making huge donations to foundations controlled by Park’s secret confidante, Choi Soon-sil, to win lucrative state licences for duty-free businesses.
Prosecutors raided the Seoul headquarters of the two groups and the finance ministry to confiscate documents relating to the duty-free operations, the Yonhap news agency reported. Prosecutors confirmed the raids took place but did not provide further details.
SK and Lotte last year lost some of their licences to run the duty-free businesses, which largely target the growing number of Chinese visitors to South Korea, and were seeking to win them back at another auction scheduled in December.
Choi is accused of using her personal ties with Park to coerce donations from big firms to two non-profit foundations which were then used for Choi’s personal gain.