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Draft:K Pharmacy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • Comment: Edits with obviously LLM-generated edit summaries do not make the article less LLM-generated. ~ A412 talk! 06:54, 27 August 2026 (UTC)

K Pharmacy (Korean: K약국) is a term used by South Korean media for foreign tourists' habit of shopping at Korean pharmacies, mostly for over-the-counter drugs and pharmacy-only skin care. English-language coverage has also called it the "K-pharmacy tour".[1][2] The trend took off in the mid-2020s, when K-beauty shoppers started buying medicines and functional products along with cosmetics. Its main centres are Myeong-dong, Hongdae, Gangnam and Seongsu in Seoul, Seomyeon, Haeundae and Gwangalli in Busan, and Jeju.

Japanese coverage uses K-薬局 (K-yakkyoku), borrowed directly from the Korean term.[3] In the English-language beauty trade press, "K-pharmacy" instead refers to the clinical skin-care brands sold through Korean pharmacies.[4] Chinese-language outlets use K-药妆店,[5] and on TikTok the trend circulates under hashtags such as #KoreaPharmacy and #PharmacyHaul.[6]

Background

[edit]

Counted by transactions, pharmacies dominate foreign visitors' medical spending in Korea, with about seven in ten card payments. Counted by value they matter much less: in July 2026 they took 12.7%, well behind dermatology clinics (54.9%) and plastic surgery clinics (19.3%).[7][8] Foreign card spending at pharmacies in the first half of 2026 was 1,176.9% above the same period of 2025, a bigger rise than in any other medical or beauty category surveyed.[6] Taking January to August 2026 together, pharmacies' share of foreign medical spending by value was 12.29%, up from 6.44% in the same months of 2025.[9]

In Seoul, Myeong-dong had the most of these shoppers, ahead of Gangnam, Hongdae and Seongsu; outside the capital, Busan's Seomyeon came first. On Jeju, 63% of them were from Greater China.[10]

By region

[edit]

Seoul

[edit]

Only three new pharmacies opened in Myeong-dong between 2021 and 2024. Openings picked up in the summer of 2025, and nine were added that year; another nine opened in January and February 2026 alone.[11] Daily Pharm counted 19 openings in the district in the six months to March 2026.[12] They range from shops of about ten square metres to stores spread over two floors; one of nearly 400 square metres opened in December 2025.[13]

During the COVID-19 pandemic Myeong-dong's retail vacancy rate climbed to 49.9% (2021); by 2025 it was back down to 5.4%. The mix of spending changed too. Hair salons accounted for 43% of transaction value in 2025, but in 2026 dermatology-related services led with 63%, and average spending per visitor rose 44%.[14][15]

Growth was steeper in Seongsu. Data from the Korea Tourism Organization's Korea Tourism Data Lab show pharmacy sales in Seongsu 2-ga 1-dong rising 15,249% year on year; in Woo 1-dong, in Busan's Haeundae District, the rise was 12,828%.[16] Nationwide, the Hana Institute of Finance put foreign tourists' pharmacy spending in 2025 at 141.4 billion won, up 142.2% on 2024.[6]

Busan

[edit]

The number of pharmacies in Busan went from about 1,500 in 2020 to 1,711 in 2026. Large tourist-oriented stores have opened in the Seomyeon and Haeundae shopping areas and close to Gwangalli Beach. The Kookje Shinmun linked this to the rise in visitors from Greater China after direct flights between Taiwan and Busan were expanded in 2024.[17]

Jeju

[edit]

During the May 2026 holidays, foreign visitors on Jeju spent 273% more at pharmacies than a year before, the largest increase of any category in the survey (medical services were up 201%).[18] Two large pharmacies opened on the island within a few months of each other: one of over 600 square metres in late 2025, and one of 580 square metres near the airport in early 2026.[19]

Shopping patterns

[edit]

Tourists often walk in with screenshots of products they found online and show them to staff.[20] Shopping lists for Korean pharmacies are shared on TikTok, Instagram and Xiaohongshu, and some shoppers post their receipts once they get home.[6]

Among the most requested items are wound-healing creams, medicated lip balms, acne and scar treatments, hyperhidrosis products and skin-regeneration creams.[21] A regeneration cream nicknamed "topical Rejuran", after the injectable skin booster, went out of stock several times.[6] Shoppers interviewed by Korean media described the products as "more medicinal" and easier to trust.[21]

Stores

[edit]

Most of these pharmacies offer tax-free purchases and staff who speak Chinese, Japanese or English, and some have installed skin-diagnosis machines or enlarged their sales floors.[3] Beauty-focused pharmacy chains have opened big branches in Myeong-dong, Seongsu and Hongdae, fitted out with pop-up spaces, duty-free counters and skin-analysis kiosks. The Korea Herald estimated there were 40 to 50 such stores by August 2026, up from almost none in 2025.[22] Larger shops may have five or more Chinese- and Japanese-speaking interpreters on the floor, plus skin consultants,[23] and tend to recruit international students or language graduates for these jobs.[24]

Cosmetics are what keep these stores going. According to industry estimates reported by the Korea Economic Daily, over-the-counter drugs carry margins of around 9–15%, while dermocosmetics sold only through pharmacies carry 30–40%, and at beauty-focused pharmacies functional cosmetics make up 70–80% of sales. The same report credits this with letting them pay the rents in Myeong-dong and Seongsu.[25]

Large retailers have moved in as well. Olive Young took its "Advanced Derma" section, developed with drug makers, to 650 stores within four months, and in September 2026 Musinsa opened a beauty store in Hongdae with a pharmacy in its basement.[9]

Reception

[edit]

Drug makers say social media word of mouth turns directly into sales.[21] Korean media have noted the shopping shorthand "Oldamu" (Korean: 올다무), for Olive Young, Daiso and Musinsa, being replaced by "Oldayak" (Korean: 올다약), in which the pharmacy takes Musinsa's place.[21] Dongwha Pharmaceutical's Quirip lip ointment, launched in July 2024, sold 3 billion won in its first year and passed 6 billion won in cumulative sales by January 2026.[26]

The Korean Pharmaceutical Association, which opposed the warehouse-style discount pharmacies that appeared around the same time, has not objected to the tourist-oriented stores; an official told Newsis that pharmacies aimed at visitors in tourist districts were a long-standing pattern and a different kind of business.[27] Rents for pharmacy premises in Myeong-dong have risen sharply, and trade press has described the competition there as overheated.[12]

Comparable case abroad

[edit]

A similar thing happened earlier at Pharmacie de Monge in the Latin Quarter of Paris. According to Quartz, drawing on Le Monde's M magazine, about 1,000 Asian customers a day, most of them Korean, made up around a third of the shop's business. It gave tax refunds at the till and carried some 20,000 products; nine of its 50 employees spoke Korean, three Chinese and one Japanese. Its popularity with Koreans started with a blog post by a Korean journalist who lived nearby, and the shop later found its way into Korean guidebooks to Paris.[28]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Korea's pharmacies emerge as K-beauty destinations for tourists". KED Global. 2026-08-01.
  2. ↑ ""Hit Olive Young First, Then the Pharmacy": Myeongdong Revives as a Global Showroom". The Asia Business Daily. 2026-05-29.
  3. 1 2 "ソウル・明洞で広がる「薬局ショッピング文化」…外国人観光客が殺到、観光需要拡大". KOREA WAVE (via Yahoo! News Japan).
  4. ↑ "Cosmetics Business reveals the top 5 K-beauty trends of 2026 in new report". Cosmetics Business. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
  5. ↑ "访韩外国游客掀起药店购物潮 药妆店成新打卡地". Asia Today (亚洲日报).
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Heo, Midam (9 August 2026). ""You Can't Leave Korea Empty-Handed"...Foreigners Drive Pharmacy Spending Up 1,177% [K-Holic]". The Asia Business Daily. Retrieved 16 August 2026.
  7. ↑ Kim, Heung-rok (31 August 2026). "Olive Young to Dermatology to Pharmacy: Foreigners Forge K-Beauty Chain". Seoul Economic Daily. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
  8. ↑ 외국인 의료소비 10건 중 7건은 약국…관광객 '첫 방문지' 자리매김 [Seven of every ten instances of foreigners' medical spending are at pharmacies]. The Korean Pharmacists Association News (in Korean). Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  9. 1 2 "에펠탑 나중에, 약국 먼저" 美 더마 열풍에 'K-더마' 글로벌 관심 집중 ["Eiffel Tower later, pharmacy first": global interest in K-derma]. Newsis (in Korean). 17 September 2026. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  10. ↑ Kim, Hwa-gyun (12 May 2026). "올리브영 다음은 약국"…韓 찾는 외국인 'K-쇼핑' 지형도 바뀐다 ["After Olive Young comes the pharmacy": the K-shopping map for foreign visitors to Korea is shifting]. Digital Times (in Korean). Retrieved 16 August 2026.
  11. ↑ Lim, Chae-gyu (6 March 2026). '종로 약국가' 이은 또하나의 '명동 약국가' 탄생하나? [After Jongno, is a Myeong-dong pharmacy row being born?]. The Korean Pharmacists Association News (in Korean). Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  12. 1 2 명동은 지금 '약국 전쟁'… 6개월 새 19곳 신규 개업 [Myeong-dong is now in a "pharmacy war": 19 new openings in six months]. Daily Pharm (in Korean). 26 March 2026. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  13. ↑ Lim, Chae-gyu (26 January 2026). 영역 확장하는 관광객 초점 대형약국…뜨거워지는 '명동' [Tourist-focused large pharmacies expand: Myeong-dong heats up]. The Korean Pharmacists Association News (in Korean). Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  14. ↑ Cho, Sung-ran (26 June 2026). 외국인 지갑 열린 명동…"쇼핑보다 피부과" 결제액 44% 뛰었다 [Foreign wallets open in Myeong-dong: "dermatology over shopping", payments up 44%]. Tour Korea (in Korean). Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  15. ↑ "Where are the meds being sold? This much to foreigners... K-healing shopping, Myeong-dong 'pharmacy tour'". The Kyunghyang Shinmun. 2026-07-04.
  16. ↑ Yang, Hyo-seon (21 June 2026). 외국인 소비 2조 시대… 성수가 증명한 K뷰티 경험경제 [The two-trillion-won era of foreign spending: Seongsu proves the K-beauty experience economy]. Cheonji Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved 16 August 2026.
  17. ↑ Yang, Bo-won (9 August 2026). 부산 약국, 외국인 줄서는 필수 관광코스 됐다 [Busan's pharmacies have become an essential tourist course, with foreigners queuing]. Kookje Shinmun (in Korean). Retrieved 16 August 2026.
  18. ↑ Park, Kyung-chul (17 May 2026). 5월 황금연휴 제주 찾은 외국인 약국 몰렸다 [Foreign visitors to Jeju over the May holiday flocked to pharmacies]. Jeju Maeil (in Korean). Retrieved 16 August 2026.
  19. ↑ Lim, Chae-gyu (18 February 2026). 1주일 사이 약국 5곳 개설, 제주 'K-파마시' 열풍? [Five pharmacies opened in a week — a 'K-pharmacy' boom in Jeju?]. The Korean Pharmacists Association News (in Korean). Retrieved 16 August 2026.
  20. ↑ Yeon, Hee-jin (29 April 2026). 매장마다 외국인 쇼핑 인파⋯명동, '뷰티 명소'로 화려한 귀환(르포) [Crowds of foreign shoppers at every store: Myeong-dong returns as a "beauty destination" (on-site report)]. E-Today (in Korean). Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  21. 1 2 3 4 Park, Jung-won (12 April 2026). 한국 관광 필수코스 된 약국…왜 외국인들은 K약에 열광하나 [Pharmacies have become an essential course in Korean tourism — why are foreigners so enthusiastic about K-drugs?]. Hankyung Business (in Korean). Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  22. ↑ "From discounts to pharmacies, K-beauty retail in South Korea is changing fast". The Star. The Korea Herald. 15 August 2026. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
  23. ↑ Oh, Ji-eun (31 July 2026). "이거 사러 한국 왔다" 몰리는 관광객에 통역사까지 등장…'필수 쇼핑 코스' 된 K약국 ["I came to Korea to buy this": interpreters appear as tourists flock to the K-pharmacy]. The Asia Business Daily (in Korean). Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  24. ↑ 명동 외국인 소비 달라졌다…'헤어' 대신 피부과 찾는 관광객 급증 [Foreign spending in Myeong-dong has changed: a surge of tourists seeking dermatology instead of hair salons]. Maeil Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  25. ↑ Ko, Eun-i; Jang, Seo-woo (4 September 2026). 왓슨스도 실패한 드러그스토어…뷰티 입은 K약국이 해냈다 [The drugstore even Watsons failed at: K-pharmacies dressed in beauty pulled it off]. The Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  26. ↑ Kim, Eung-min (24 June 2026). 명동 약국가, 'K-파마' 훈풍...일반의약품, '뷰티 케어'로 진화 [Myeong-dong pharmacies ride the "K-pharma" wind: OTC drugs evolve into beauty care]. Pharm News (in Korean). Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  27. ↑ Song, Jong-ho (2 March 2026). "명동가면 꼭 들러야지"…외국 관광객 열광하는 'K-약국' ["A must-visit in Myeong-dong": the K-pharmacy foreign tourists love]. Newsis (in Korean). Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  28. ↑ Chibber, Kabir (21 July 2022). "Globalization in a nutshell: A pharmacy in Paris is a Korean tourist attraction". Quartz. Retrieved 16 August 2026.

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