Click image for details Amid the THAAD controversy, Lotte Group, which chose to compromise and provide land for the THAAD deployment to the South Korean government, is undoubtedly one of the main subjects of public opinion. Speculation is rife about what price it will pay. The headline of South Korea's Kyunghyang Shinmun on March 2 read, "Lotte faces boycott in China after providing land for THAAD." The same day, Yonhap reported under the title "China may intensify countermeasures against THAAD, Lotte bears the brunt." In China, incidents of public and social "punishment" against Lotte have already begun: some Chinese citizens have held boycott activities, and online malls such as JD.com have removed Lotte products...

So, how much impact has Lotte's business in China actually suffered? How is Lotte responding? With these questions, reporters recently visited four Lotte stores in China.

To get first-hand information on Lotte's operations in China, a reporter called the head of the publicity department at Lotte China's Shanghai headquarters on the evening of February 28. The response was "no comment," but immediately added, "We haven't noticed any changes so far."

Beijing: Plainclothes security guards "escort" reporters all the way

On March 1, at a Lotte Mart in Fengtai District, Beijing, the situation was far from what the publicity head described. The reporter entered the supermarket at around 2 p.m. Staff in red uniforms were busy restocking and loading goods, but there were very few customers. Some long rows of shelves had no one in front of them. According to the reporter's estimate, in this warehouse-style supermarket covering over a thousand square meters, there were fewer than 50 customers at the time, seemingly fewer than the number of staff.

An elderly female customer with gray hair said she came to shop because she lived nearby. There were other supermarkets in the area, which were cheaper for vegetables and meat and of no worse quality, but much smaller than Lotte. "Actually, there used to be a lot of people shopping here, but recently, for some reason, there are so few." When the reporter told her about the THAAD issue, she suddenly understood and said she hadn't known about the news before.

"After the Chinese New Year, the number of customers has been about like this," a middle-aged female staff member at Lotte Mart told the reporter. When the reporter continued to ask in detail about the business situation over the past two days, she became wary and quickly walked away. When the reporter pressed further, the answer changed to "I haven't been working much lately, so I don't know the situation." When THAAD was mentioned, she shook her head repeatedly, saying, "I don't know." The reporter tried to talk to another staff member, around 40-50 years old, who barely said a word, only uttering six words throughout: "I don't know," "I haven't paid attention."

Although there were not many security personnel at the supermarket entrance, the reporter experienced the tense atmosphere of "strict defense" inside Lotte Mart. When the reporter tried to take photos with a mobile phone inside the supermarket, a male staff member immediately stopped him and even demanded the deletion of the photos taken. When the reporter was about to leave through the exit, he suddenly noticed something was wrong: two plainclothes male staff members seemed to have been following him all along. To verify whether they were Lotte security personnel, the reporter returned to the supermarket. Sure enough, in the next half hour, one of the men kept a distance of about 15 meters from the reporter, while the other proactively approached and asked, "Why did you come back?" Under the reporter's questioning, they eventually admitted they were indeed Lotte security personnel. Although both were polite, the reporter ultimately had to leave the supermarket under their "escort." As they left, they seemed still uneasy and asked, "Are you coming back?"

Shenyang: The once bustling food court has become deserted

On the morning of March 1, at Lotte Department Store in downtown Shenyang. This mall was built and put into operation in 2014, with a total investment of up to 3 trillion Korean won, making it Lotte's largest department store in China. Perhaps because it was a weekday, few people came to shop that day.

Yang Zilai is a white-collar worker near Lotte Department Store in Shenyang. He said he passes by the mall every day on his way to work. In the past two days, he noticed more security guards at the square and parking lot in front of the mall, although they stood in inconspicuous positions. "I curiously asked them, but they were quite vigilant and didn't speak, just nodded. I went into the store and took a look. The department store area from the 1st to 6th floors had never been crowded, but now it looks even more deserted, with cashiers having nothing to do. I asked one of them what was going on, and she looked at me as if she wanted to say something but stopped, and ultimately said nothing." According to Yang's observation, the biggest change was in the food court on the basement level. "This place used to be quite popular, with several restaurants always having 20-30 people queuing, but now you can walk right in without queuing. The sales staff and security guards are all tight-lipped, as if they received some unified instruction."

Mr. Tong, who has a catering cooperation with Lotte Department Store in Shenyang, told reporters that although the number of customers in the food court has decreased due to the THAAD controversy, there are many office buildings and government departments nearby, with many white-collar workers. "Many people have to eat here, and it's hard to replace in the short term."

Tianjin: "No idols before the nation, no Lotte after THAAD"

At noon the same day, a special correspondent in Tianjin visited Lotte Department Store in the Cultural Center of Hexi District, Tianjin. Similar to Beijing and Shenyang, very few customers came to this mall, and even the usually bustling cosmetics counters had few customers. During the visit, the reporter found that security personnel were "accompanying" him everywhere.

In the supermarket on the basement level of Lotte Department Store, a customer, Miss Zhang, a Lotte gold card member, was preparing to cancel her card. Zhang previously frequented the Lotte Department Store in Galaxy Shopping Center because it was close to home. She often bought Korean kimchi, salmon, and other products from Lotte's imported goods supermarket, for the sake of authenticity and freshness.

"I'm quite disappointed about the THAAD incident. Although I understand Lotte's position as a Korean company, since they are so 'principled,' it shouldn't be hard for them to stop making money from Chinese people, right?" Zhang said she would not shop at Lotte Department Store again, even if the card cannot be refunded. "No idols before the nation, no Lotte after THAAD. I hope Chinese people can also have some backbone."

At another Lotte Department Store in the southeast corner of Tianjin, many counter sales staff declined the special correspondent's interview, citing reasons such as women's lack of political sensitivity or that they had to follow leaders' arrangements. After some effort, some staff finally spoke. They told reporters that they have been under a lot of work pressure recently, especially the grassroots security personnel. They said they also understand the impact of South Korea's deployment of THAAD on China, but "to support their families and maintain professionalism, they can only stick to their posts."

Throughout the visit, the most impressive "episode" was a small incident. At the entrance of Lotte Mart, the reporter encountered several Korean customers preparing to shop and approached them hoping to chat about the THAAD issue. When others declined, citing poor Chinese, one Korean suddenly, with a look of impatience, blurted out the sound "gun" (meaning "get lost"). Shocked, the reporter wanted to chase after them to argue, but they hurried away without buying anything.

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