Lotte Group, the country’s fourth-largest business group by assets, created a buzz during the Chuseok holiday when it opened up the lower part of its 123-story second Lotte World retail complex in Jamsil-dong, southern Seoul, to ordinary citizens.

The event, part of Lotte’s desperate attempt to win the Seoul city government’s approval for a partial opening, drew mostly negative responses and further raised concerns over safety and traffic congestion.

In a bid to let citizens experience firsthand the safety of the controversial skyscraper, more than 10,000 people have been given a chance to take the inpection tour of the building since Sept. 6. The program is scheduled to run until Sept. 16, and all slots must be booked in advance.

The one-hour tour consists of a 30-minute promotional video on Lotte’s history and the tower’s construction, followed by an inspection of the shopping and entertainment area on the sixth floor, and a briefing on measures in the event of emergencies such as fires.

A safety survey completed by the participants will be reviewed by the Seoul city government to decide whether to allow the conglomerate to open the country’s tallest building.

The inspection, however, has received generally unfavorable reviews.

“Lotte suggested a fire engine and 11 firefighters to completely extinguish a fire but in my experience such a large building needs more systematic countermeasures,” a visitor said.

Others note that Lotte has made few efforts to allay public anxiety about the much-rumored weakened ground and other safety factors that may affect the facility.

“I am impressed with the flashy interior design, but without the safety guaranteed, who will come here?” another visitor said.

Moreover, concerns are mounting over possible traffic chaos created by the building.

According to the Seoul government, the traffic volume in the Jamsil area will increase by more than 49 percent after the opening of the building, resulting in a traffic flow of less than 11.3 kilometers per hour. This level could be classified as “extremely serious” by the Korean Society of Transportation, the authorities said.

Lotte decided to allow less than 500 cars a day in its parking lot in order to reduce traffic. The company also pledged to charge higher fees for those who park their cars for more than three hours.

“In the event that the traffic congestion reaches an intolerable level, Lotte will shut down the parking lot as agreed,” a Seoul official said. “We will make sure that Lotte amends all problems before the opening,” he added.

Lotte received a green light from the government to build the 555-meter-high building across from its Lotte World shopping and amusement complex in 2009.

The so-called second Lotte World will become the tallest building in South Korea when completed in 2016.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)