Shinsegae Simon’s Yeoju Premium Outlet, the nation’s first suburban outlet, will undergo another round of expansion with the aim of becoming Asia’s largest outlet by 2014, the company said Sunday.

The Yeoju outlet, which opened in 2007, currently sells 145 brands at a 264,000 square meter site. After the expansion, some 250 brands will be located at the 463,000 square meter site ― the largest in Asia.

The 50:50 joint venture between Korean retail giant Shinsegae and U.S. commercial real estate company Simon Property Group operates three locations in Paju and Yeoju, both in Gyeonggi Province, and Busan.

With the planned expansion, the company said it aims to nurture a key tourist attraction that lures more than 10 million shoppers from around the world every year like the U.S.’ Woodbury and Japan’s Gotemba.

According to the company, the accumulative number of visitors to the Yeoju outlet has exceeded the 25 million mark since its opening. Of the 5.5 million people last year, 200,000 were foreign nationals.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)