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| Korea Tourist Guide Association members hold pickets and brochures in front of Shinsegae Department Store Main Branch in downtown Seoul, Wednesday, criticizing Shinsegae Duty Free for allegedly selling to foreigners who redistribute tax-free goods illegally. / Korea Times Photo by Park Jae-hyuk |
By Park Jae-hyuk
About 100 tour guides held a rally in front of the main branch of Shinsegae Department Store in downtown Seoul, Wednesday, claiming Shinsegae Duty Free illegally sold tax-free goods to foreigners to distribute in black markets.
The Korea Tourist Guide Association said foreigners ― especially Chinese students ― buy large amounts of cosmetics from the duty free store and resell them in Dongdaemun Market, as well as the Sindorim/Daerim area in southwestern Seoul. The government-affiliated organization said tourists who visit Korea have been unable to buy what they want, as a result.
"Duty free stores regard foreigners purchasing large amounts of goods as tour guides, and thus give them more incentives than qualified guides," an official of the association said. "We decided to hold the rally here, because Shinsegae has allowed more illegal activity than any other duty free store operator."
The association said it raised the issue at a meeting with seven duty free operators in May, but only Lotte Duty Free is addressing the problem, according to inspections done by the association.
The association said it will protest other companies as well, if they do not take appropriate measures.
"We have reported the matter to the Korea Customs Service," the association official said, "but their countermeasures were unsatisfactory."
Shinsegae denied the allegations claimed by the association. The company argued it is unable to monitor reselling activities, because it is impossible to track the products after customers take them from the store.
"Unqualified tour guides are only a small part of the whole number of guides who registered in our duty free store in the early days of the opening in May," a Shinsegae Duty Free spokesperson said. "We have continued to ask unqualified guides via email and text message to submit the required documents."
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