Lotte was founded in June 1948, by Korean businessman Shin Kyuk-ho in Tokyo, Japan, two years after he graduated from Waseda Jitsugyo High School (早稲田実業学校).

Originally called Lotte Co., Ltd, the company has grown from selling chewing gum to children in post-war Japan to becoming a major multinational corporation.

Shin Kyuk-ho was impressed with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) and named his newly founded company Lotte after the character Charlotte in the novel.

In 2013, as Shin Kyuk-ho, the founder of Lotte, faced declining health due to Alzheimer’s disease, a dispute arose between his two sons over the control of the conglomerate.

[9] Lotte Group's major businesses are food, retail, chemical, construction, manufacturing, tourism, service, finance, etc.

In 2016, Lotte Corporation announced that they would no longer acquire new beluga whales after two of Bella's companions, Belli and Bellu, died in their care.

South Korean authorities also argued that Lotte Engineering & Construction overpaid its suppliers and then reclaimed the difference, amounting to slush funds worth ₩30.2 billion (US$26.4 million).

[28] In order to secure a duty-free deal for Lotte, Shin was accused of donating ₩7 billion (US$6.12 million) to a non-profit controlled by incumbent President Park Geun-hye's close friend Choi Soon-sil.

[29] Following his conviction, Shin stepped down as Chief Operating Officer of Lotte Group's Japanese-based holding firm but remained on the board of directors.

[31] In October 2018, an appeals court freed Shin from prison after just 234 days, giving him a suspended sentence of 4 years and cancelling the fine.

[36] The site chosen was Lotte Skyhill Country Club in Seongsan due to its high elevation, distance from civilian centres and existing infrastructure.

[37] A Lotte spokesperson said that leadership "agonized" over the decision to allow the sale of the golf course for the THAAD system, but concluded their hands were tied: "if we say no to the government, we can't do business in Korea".