Lotte Group has decided to request the government to defend its businesses against China's retaliation to the planned deployment of the U.S. THAAD on the Korean Peninsula.   
 
South Korea's fifth largest conglomerate held an executives’ meeting on Sunday to discuss how to handle the current business situation in China. 
 
The Lotte executives decided to ask the Prime Minister’s Office to explain to China that its decision to sign a land swap deal for a THAAD site was inevitably made at the government's request over national security concerns. 
 
The group said it is seeking the government’s help not only for itself but also for other South Korean companies doing business in China.
 
Lotte is also known to be asking the government to remind the Chinese side of its contribution to the Chinese economy, including the employment of nearly 20-thousand Chinese workers.