April 19, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Lotte Property & Development confirmed that it is considering filing a lawsuit against Otis Elevator due to losses caused by malfunctions at its landmark building in southeastern Seoul.

“We are indeed thinking of suing Otis, which is Lotte World Tower’s Sky Shuttle operator, but we need to discuss the matter with them first. If the firm is willing to compensate our losses, then we can talk this through (without filing a lawsuit),” Lotte P&D spokesperson Seo Kyu-ha told The Investor.

Sky Shuttle elevators are customized fast-speed elevators installed at Lotte World Tower, which begun operations 13 months ago. On May 7, Lotte first noticed that the elevator was operating at below normal speeds. The firm and Otis jointly conducted an inspection from May 17-28 to 28 of both elevators and found out that a component of the rope connected the Sky Shuttle, which was previously suspected to have some problems, was damaged.

According to Lotte P&D, it will take around three months to restart operations. “The parts are not available in Kora, and it takes around two months to import and install them. Then we need another month for a test-run,” Seo said. He added that it might take less time if the company changes only the problematic parts, but Lotte has decided to replace all the ropes connected to Sky Shuttle due to safety concerns.

The company added that it will run one elevator until end-August and also cut the number of people that can use the lift by half from 1,000 people per hour.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)