Such tantrums took the industry by total surprise since the senior Shin was known to have had complete control over his sons with his charisma and money. “There were possibilities of a family feud over power transition but we thought it would happen after the general chairman’s death,” an insider said.

Born in 1922, Shin moved to Japan at the age of 19. He founded chewing gum maker Lotte in 1948 and later expanded to chocolates and other confectionaries.

In 1967, two years after Seoul and Tokyo formalized diplomatic ties, he expanded his business to South Korea and has made a success here.

Under Shin, who is known to have eyes for real estate, ears for trends and the brain for money, Lotte became South Korea’s fifth largest conglomerate with 76 affiliates generating 83 trillion won revenue in 2013. His Korean business ranged from food to entertainment, petrochemicals, construction and trade, leisure and retail, while Lotte Japan with 37 affiliates generated 5.7 trillion won-sales during the same time.

Such growth led Shin to be named the world’s 9th wealthiest man by Forbes magazine in 1990.

In 2005, the senior Shin named his eldest son Dong-joo the leader of Lotte Japan including Lotte Holdings, while putting his second son Dong-bin in charge of Lotte Korea, staying away from the limelight.

Nonetheless, Shin has remained very hands-on about major projects including the construction of the 123-story Lotte World Tower in southern Seoul. It was reported on Monday that the 93-year-old still receives daily reports about the construction, which is expected to complete in late 2016.

“There have been reports that general chairman Shin Kyuk-ho has been not very bright recently. He sacked the Japanese CEO of Lotte Holdings on Monday but later that day cheered him, arousing suspicions that he does not know what he is doing. But still, what the business mogul has achieved will be acknowledged by history,” an industrial analyst said.

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