S. Korea formally signs land swap deal with Lotte for THAAD
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) - South Korea's defense ministry on Tuesday signed the land swap deal with Lotte Group for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), a ministry official said.
The official told Xinhua that the contract to exchange military land for the Lotte-owned golf course was formally signed earlier in the day.
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Lotte complicacy entails no change to China's embrace for foreign investment
BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Prospects for the retail business run by South Korea's Lotte Group in China are brought in public spotlight by its Monday approval of a land swap to enable an early deployment of the controversial U.S. missile defense system known as THAAD.
Giving a strong warning for all the "consequences" on the part of South Korea and the United States for its deployment, the Chinese foreign ministry fell short of mentioning anything against the Lotte Group.
Lotte, a business group focusing on retail and food, has benefited much from China's opening up for foreign investment. By the end of 2015, Lotte shops and supermarkets have covered 24 provinces in China.
A brisk business has prompted its tax-free shops to expand in size so as to serve increasing numbers of Chinese consumers, who contribute 70 percent of its total sales volume.
The THAAD system is being installed in the name of protecting South Korea's security from the neighboring Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
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