Rising foreign tourist numbers help revive Myeong-dong’s storefront occupancy rates

Seoul’s shopping district of Myeong-dong bustles with foreign tourists and locals on Aug. 31. Yonhap

A surge in foreign tourism is driving renewed demand for retail and office space in Seoul’s iconic shopping district of Myeong-dong, where the vacancy rate has plummeted from 52.5 percent to just 4.9 percent, data showed Sunday.

Data released by real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield Korea showed that only 4.9 percent of storefronts in Myeong-dong were vacant in the second quarter of 2025.

This marks a significant improvement compared to the second quarter of 2022, when 52.5 percent of stores were vacant due to the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on overseas tourism.

The current vacancy rate is now roughly one-tenth of what it was during the pandemic’s peak.

The dramatic change comes as a result of the number of foreign tourists hitting a record 8.83 million in the first half of 2025.

This surge in tourism represents a 14.6 percent increase from the same period last year and a 4.6 percent rise over the previous high of 8.44 million, set in the first half of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The welcome revival in storefront occupancy has been driven largely by beauty and lifestyle stores.

Olive Young, known among foreign tourists as a K-beauty hub, operates eight stores in Myeong-dong alone.

Among them, the Myeongdong Town branch ranks first in nationwide sales, with over 90 percent of its transactions made by foreign customers.

Daiso, a lifestyle goods retailer, also operates a 12-story store that ranks as its top-performing outlet nationwide.

To cater to foreign shoppers seeking affordable cosmetics priced under 5,000 won ($3.50), an entire floor is dedicated exclusively to cosmetics.

Standalone stores from domestic and foreign-licensed clothing brands have also increased.

Among them are MLB, Discovery and Matin Kim, whose stores attract overwhelmingly high proportions of foreign visitors.

More than 90 percent of visitors to the MLB store in Myeong-dong are foreign nationals, while Discovery’s share exceeds 80 percent.

Matin Kim’s Myeong-dong branch is the brand’s top-grossing store, with foreign customers accounting for 70 percent of its sales.