Lotte hopes to start construction of skyscraper this year

SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- Lotte Group, South Korea's fifth-largest business
conglomerate, said Wednesday it expects the government to give a final nod for it
to construct the country's tallest building.

For more than a decade, Lotte has planned to build a 112-story building in the
southeastern corner of Seoul where the group also runs an amusement park.
The plan hit a snag last year after the Air Force expressed opposition, saying
the proposed skyscraper could endanger flights taking off from a nearby airfield.

Earlier in the day, however, a government panel ruled that it would ask the Air
Force to revise its rules on flight-safety zones, clearing the biggest obstacle
for Lotte's plan.
Deregulation across all sectors has been a key initiative of the Lee Myung-bak
administration.
"Lotte respects the decision and will take all necessary measures to cooperate
with the Air Force's plan to ensure the safety of flights," the group said in a
statement.
If everything progresses smoothly, Lotte said it will win final approval to begin
building the skyscraper by the end of this year. The group plans to complete
construction in five years and will send as much as two trillion won (US$1.54
billion).
Currently, the nation's tallest building -- the 63 Building, which sits along the
waterfront of the Han Riv