Shinsegae Duty Free said Tuesday that it will open a K-pop concert hall later this week in Seoul in a bid to attract more foreign customers in the early stages of its operation.

South Korean retail giant Shinsegae opened its first duty-free outlet on the top four floors in the flagship Shinsegae department store, with about 600 brands, in May.

The hall -- situated right next to the duty free shop in Myeongdong, a shopping district in central Seoul -- will be entirely for shows by entertainment giant CJ E&M's "Boys24," the company said.

The 28-member idol group was picked through a survival TV show from 49 K-pop trainees and is the country's first idol group entirely for shows.

The first gig will be held on Thursday and the idol group will hit the stage four times a week, company officials said.

Shinsegae said it is forecast to attract some 100,000 foreign tourists annually by running the concert hall.

Since opening, the store toughened competition in the capital downtown as it is located less than a 10-minute walk from Lotte's main duty-free shop, South Korea's largest store by sales, and about 3 kilometers from the second-largest outlet, the Shilla Duty Free Seoul. (Yonhap)