COEX Mall, Asia’s largest underground shopping mall located in Samseong-dong, southeastern Seoul, is to transform from a conventional shopping spot into a comprehensive “culture platform.”

The current mall, which has mostly been under renovation since May, is to reopen as the new COEX Mall in December next year, according to officials of COEX and the Korea International Trade Association.

“Under the slogan ‘culture platform,’ we plan to diversify the types of businesses to respond to consumer needs and to expand public spaces for cultural, tourist and entertainment uses,” said Justin Lee, KITA’s executive managing director.

In order to implement the remodeling project, COEX terminated the lease contract for most of the tenant shops without further extension and is preparing to select new tenants from scratch, officials said.

“As the contracts have been terminated, we are under no obligation to offer compensation to conventional tenants,” said Park Young-bae, senior executive vice president of COEX.

“We will nevertheless give them priority in bidding, especially to small retailers, and have secured some 94 shop units for this purpose.”

The district will be located in the northeast section of the underground mall, close to the new Seoul Metro Line 9 COEX station slated to open late next year, he added.

In order to minimize the inconvenience to visitors and incoming tenants, part of the mall will initially open in March next year while the rest will follow in December.

Also, the task force in charge of the remodeling project strategically selected a group of special tenants, which match up to the concept of the renewed mall.

“Considering our position as public exhibition space manager, we decided to allocate a considerable proportion of the area to domestic industries and small retailers, instead of luxurious overseas brands,” the official also said.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)