Samsung heiress eyes new duty-free store in Seoul

[THE INVESTOR] HDC Shilla Duty Free announced on Sept. 28 that it will participate in the bid for a license to operate a new downtown duty-free store in Seoul. The deadline for receiving applications is Oct. 4.

The firm is a joint venture between Hotel Shilla, led by Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s elder daughter Lee Boo-jin, and Hyundai Development.  It hopes to open a store in IPark tower in southern Seoul if it wins the bid. This will be HDC Shilla Duty Free’s second outlet, after it successfully won a duty-free store license last year and operates an outlet in Yongsan.

Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin(left)

Han Yin-gyu, president of Hotel Shilla’s duty-free division, confirmed the plan to reporters in the morning.

Yang Chang-hun and Lee Gil-han, co-CEOs of HDC Shilla Duty Free also confirmed it, saying,“Homegrown, small and medium enterprises will be the star of the second branch. We will build it a as a hub where everyone can feel and enjoy a variety of tourism attractions of Korea from history and culture to food.”

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)