Shopping in Seoul: Myeongdong, Dongdaemun Night Malls and Tax Refunds

Myeongdong is the first stop for most visitors and the easiest place in Seoul to do a lot of shopping in a few hours. Exits 6 to 8 of Myeongdong Station (Line 4) open straight onto a grid of pedestrian streets lined with Innisfree, Nature Republic, Etude, Missha, Tony Moly, Banila Co and dozens of other brand shops, most open from about 10am to 10pm. Staff hand out sample sachets at the door and every shop advertises tax-free checkout. Brand-shop prices are fixed, so the “special discount for tourists” pitch usually means an ordinary promotion.

The Olive Young flagship in Myeongdong is the store to prioritise. It is laid out for visitors, with English labels, sunscreen and toner bestseller walls, and a dedicated tax-refund queue where you show your passport and the VAT comes off at the till. Budget about 15,000 to 25,000 won ($11 to $18) for a Korean sunscreen, 1,000 to 3,000 won for a sheet mask and 20,000 to 45,000 won for a serum. Prices drop further during Olive Young’s quarterly sales, and 1+1 (buy one, get one free) offers run all year.

The district’s western edge is department-store territory. Lotte Department Store’s main branch at Euljiro 1-ga Station (Line 2) faces Seoul Plaza, with Lotte Duty Free on its upper floors; Shinsegae’s flagship near Hoehyeon Station (Line 4) has its own duty-free and one of Seoul’s best basement food halls for gift-boxed fruit and snacks. Myeongdong Cathedral closes the street at the top of the hill. From about 4pm, street-food carts take over the main street: egg bread, grilled cheese lobster, tornado potatoes and strawberry skewers at 3,000 to 7,000 won.

The streets around Dongdaemun gate and Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station (Lines 2, 4 and 5) hold Korea’s biggest clothing market, and the reason to come is the hours. The silver curves of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) are the landmark, with design shops, exhibitions and, on spring-to-autumn weekends, a night market with food trucks. Across the road, the retail malls aimed at shoppers like you open from late morning until late evening: Doota Mall (with a Doota duty-free section) and Hyundai City Outlet sell Korean labels, fast fashion and accessories at fixed prices.

The wholesale buildings are a different world. Places such as apM, Designer Club and Nyunyu for accessories are busiest from about 8pm to 5am, when buyers from across Asia arrive with rolling bags. Most stalls sell in bulk or to traders, so a single-item request can be refused; the ones with price tags on display are more likely to sell to you. Most wholesale buildings close from Saturday morning until Sunday evening, so Monday to Friday nights are the time to visit. Pyeonghwa Market along Cheonggyecheon stream sells cheap socks, hats and basics by day.

Namdaemun Market, beside Sungnyemun gate and Hoehyeon Station exit 5, is Seoul’s oldest and largest market, with more than 10,000 shops packed into alleys and multi-storey buildings. Come in the morning from about 7am to buy stone bibimbap bowls, stainless chopstick sets, ginseng, dried seaweed and laver, children’s clothes, camping gear and cheap souvenirs; the glasses shops make up prescription spectacles in about an hour for 50,000 to 200,000 won. Most stalls close around 5 to 6pm and on Sundays. Kalguksu alley, a lane of noodle counters, feeds you for under 10,000 won.

Gwangjang Market (Jongno 5-ga Station, Line 1) is best known for food: bindaetteok mung-bean pancakes, mayak gimbap and yukhoe beef tartare. Upstairs and around the edges it is a working fabric and hanbok market, and the second floor of the east-gate building holds the city’s best-known vintage clothing floor, with racks of used denim, sportswear and outdoor jackets from about 10,000 won. Vintage stalls open late morning. Mangwon Market near Hongdae sells snacks and produce to locals, and Tongin Market near Gyeongbokgung runs a coin-lunchbox scheme where you buy brass tokens and fill a tray from stall to stall.

Bargaining is light in Seoul’s markets. Ask for a small discount or a free extra when buying several items, never in shops with printed prices.

Insadong-gil, a pedestrian street between Anguk Station (Line 3) and Jonggak, is the place for traditional crafts and the best souvenir street in Jongno. Shops sell hanji mulberry paper and paper lamps, celadon and white porcelain, brass spoons, calligraphy brushes and ink stones, embroidered pouches and loose-leaf green tea. Ssamziegil, a four-storey spiral ramp of small craft shops, is the most browsable building. Expect fixed prices: 5,000 to 20,000 won for paper goods and small gifts, 30,000 won up for a decent tea bowl, and several hundred thousand for signed celadon.

Hongdae, around Hongik University Station (Line 2, AREX and the Gyeongui-Jungang line), is where students and young Koreans shop. The streets between exits 8 and 9 and the university hold cheap fashion, character shops, stationery, K-pop merchandise, photo booths and Musinsa’s own-brand stores. On Saturday afternoons from spring to autumn the Hongdae Free Market in the small park opposite the university gate sells handmade jewellery, prints and ceramics directly from the makers. North of the station, Yeonnam-dong runs along the Gyeongui Line Forest Park with small design shops, vintage boutiques and independent bookshops.

Seongsu-dong, on Line 2 at Seongsu or the Suin-Bundang line at Seoul Forest, is Seoul’s current trend capital. Former shoe factories and warehouses now host brand pop-ups that change every two to four weeks, fashion labels such as Ader Error, concept stores, Point of View stationery and large K-beauty showrooms including the Olive Young N Seongsu flagship. Weekend queues for the most talked-about pop-ups can run an hour; arrive at opening, usually 11am. Seoul Forest park is next door for a break.

South of the river, Garosu-gil in Sinsa-dong (Sinsa Station, Line 3) is a ginkgo-lined street of global flagships and Korean designer labels, with smaller boutiques in the side streets. Further east, Apgujeong Rodeo Street (Suin-Bundang line) and Cheongdam-dong hold the luxury end: the Galleria department store’s two halls, Hyundai Department Store’s Apgujeong flagship, and a row of designer flagships along Cheongdam’s luxury street. Dosan Park’s backstreets have Gentle Monster’s showpiece eyewear store and Korean fashion labels.

Seoul’s malls are huge, signed in English and easy for tax refunds:

• Starfield COEX Mall (Samseong, Line 2, or Bongeunsa, Line 9): an underground mall connected to Hyundai Department Store and Hyundai Duty Free, with the two-storey Starfield Library in its atrium.
• Lotte World Mall in Jamsil (Line 2 and 8): at the foot of Lotte World Tower, with Avenuel luxury hall, Lotte Duty Free and the Lotte World theme park next door.
• The Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido (Yeouido Station, Lines 5 and 9): opened in 2021 with an indoor garden under a glass roof and floors of young Korean brands and pop-ups; IFC Mall is a short walk away.
• Starfield Hanam and Starfield Goyang: full-day suburban megamalls in Hanam and Goyang, 40 to 60 minutes from the centre.

Department stores open from about 10:30am to 8pm (8:30pm at weekends) and close for one day a month, usually a Monday, so check the store calendar before crossing the city.

Daiso’s multi-storey Myeongdong branch sells skincare, stationery and homewares at 1,000 to 5,000 won, and supermarkets such as Lotte Mart at Seoul Station are the cheapest place for seaweed snacks, instant noodles and gochujang to take home.

Korea’s 10 percent VAT is included in shelf prices, and shops showing a “Tax Free” sign refund it to visitors staying under six months. As of 2026:

• Minimum: 15,000 won per receipt in one shop.
• Instant refund at the till: show your physical passport and the tax comes off immediately, for purchases under 1,000,000 won each and up to 5,000,000 won in total per trip. Olive Young, department stores, Daiso and most big chains do this.
• Larger purchases: you pay full price and get a receipt to claim at the airport or at city refund counters in Myeongdong and other shopping areas.
• At Incheon or Gimpo: go to the tax refund kiosks before check-in if the goods are in checked luggage, or after security if they are in your carry-on. Customs may ask to see unused items, so keep them packed together.
• Deadline: goods must leave Korea within three months of purchase.

After operator fees the refund works out at about 5 to 8 percent, not the full 10. Downtown duty-free stores (Lotte in Myeongdong and Jamsil, Shilla near Dongguk University Station, Shinsegae in Myeongdong, Hyundai at COEX) work differently: you show your passport and flight details, pay duty-free prices and collect the goods after passport control. Rules have changed several times since 2024, so check the Visit Korea site before you go.

Street shops in Myeongdong, Hongdae and Garosu-gil open about 10 or 11am and close at 10pm. Department stores run 10:30am to 8pm, Dongdaemun retail malls until late evening and the wholesale buildings overnight on weekdays. Namdaemun opens early and closes by 6pm and on Sundays, and Insadong opens daily. Convenience stores never close.

Visa and Mastercard work almost everywhere, including market stalls and food carts; American Express is patchier. Keep 30,000 to 50,000 won in cash for small market vendors. Prepaid travel cards such as WOWPASS combine a T-money transport card with a debit card loaded with won.

Clothes run small and slim. Women’s sizes are 44, 55, 66 and 77 (55 is roughly a small), men’s 90 to 105 (chest in cm), and shoes are sold in millimetres: 230 to 250 for most women, 260 to 280 for most men. Itaewon in Yongsan has the most larger sizes. Fake designer bags and unofficial K-pop goods turn up in Itaewon backstreets and Dongdaemun night stalls; they are illegal and often seized by customs at home.

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