Currently, it is the third-largest chewing gum manufacturer in the world, and its plants are located in Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Belgium, India, Russia, Myanmar, and China.

[3] Although later considered one of South Korea's largest companies, Lotte's origins actually traced back to post-World War II Japan.

The company backed up its products with strong advertising support, becoming one of the first in Japan to sponsor television programs, as well as its own baseball team and other events, such as beauty pageants.

In the mid-1950s, the company sponsored the country's Antarctic Research Expedition Team, developing a chewing gum for the effort's training program.

Shin expanded his production interest to include candies, cookies, and snack cakes, and by the early 1960s, the company had established itself as a rival to Japan's two largest confectionery groups, Meiji and Morinaga.

The company supported this launch with a massive television advertisement campaign, firmly positioning the brand in the minds of consumers.

Although Lotte had successfully established itself in Japan — a country where ethnicity had always been a prominent part of the national identity— Shin had not abandoned his Korean roots.

Lotte had established a presence in Korea as early as 1958, opening a factory producing chewing gum and other confectionery, as well as instant noodles, for the Korean market.

The South Korean government was then in the process of building up its military strength as part of its cold war with North Korea.

Seeking to establish its own industrial defense capacity, the government approached Shin with a request for him to contribute to this effort, encouraging him to enter military production as well.

Yet Shin, perhaps mindful of the negative publicity that a move into arms production would bring to the company's confectionery sales, refused.

The refusal brought a series of difficulties for Lotte Confectionery, which finally were resolved by the direct intervention of then president Park Chung-Hee.

Lotte expanded its frozen dessert operations in 2002, forming a joint venture with troubled Snow Brand Milk Products, then involved in a beef-labelling scandal.

In less than 60 years, Shin had built Lotte from a small chewing gum producer into one of the world's top confectionery groups.