The Lotte founder’s nephew and Lotte Giants chief Shin Dong-in said Monday he would step down from his post in an apparent move to distance himself from a bitter dispute between the estranged siblings over the family-run conglomerate succession.

“I will step down from my position by the end of August to bail out of disgrace and misunderstanding (caused by the public spat),” Shin was quoted as saying.  

Group officials and observers believed that the baseball team owner is siding with the founder and general chairman Shin Kyuk-ho’s first son Shin Dong-joo against second son Shin Dong-bin.

The two sons have been jousting since the elder brother attempted to oust Shin Dong-bin from Lotte Holdings, the de facto holding firm of Lotte Group, on July 27 when Shin Dong-in accompanied the founder and his cousin Shin Dong-joo to visit the Tokyo-based firm.

The Lotte Giants owner stressed that his Tokyo trip was to follow the founder’s wish, not to show his support for the former Lotte Holdings vice chairman Shin Dong-joo.

“I couldn’t refuse the founder’s order (to accompany him), even though I knew it would stir controversy,” he said. “I will never concede to untruthful news reports branding me ‘pro-Dong-joo’ and ‘anti-Dong-bin,’” he added.

The Busan-based Giants, a popular club in the nation‘s top baseball league, has not officially announced the acting owner’s resignation.

“We are trying to find out exact details of the matter as his resignation hasn’t been discussed with the club or the group,” a Giants’ official told The Korea Herald. 

Meanwhile, at the heart of the row between Lotte siblings is the mental and physical health of their 93-year-old father.

On Monday, sources at Lotte said that the senior Shin was diagnosed with a condition, known to incur memory impairment and dent thinking ability, roughly three to four years ago.

They said that his symptoms have substantially worsened this year, with group executives reporting cases in which the founder asked redundant questions within an hour of receiving reports on pending agendas.

 Shin Dong-bin, who demoted his father from general chairman of Lotte Holdings to honorary chairman last month, claimed his father has a “weakened mental capacity” at his advanced age.

By Park Han-na(hnpark@heraldcorp.com)