South Korea has opened its first arrival duty-free shops at its main gateway Incheon airport.
The Korea Customs Service and Incheon International Airport Corp said two arrival duty-free shops near baggage claim in Terminal 1 and one in Terminal 2 at Incheon airport opened for business on Friday, Pulse reported.
SM Duty Fee will operate two duty-free shops at Terminal 1 and Entas Duty Free one shop at Terminal 2. The stores will sell products of ten categories, including cosmetics, perfumes, and liquor. Cigarettes and other products such as agricultural and processed meat products are not available.
The South Korean government in September last year announced a plan to enable an opening of travel retail shops at arrival terminals at Incheon airport to alleviate the inconvenience of having to travel with duty-free goods and boost domestic spending. To allow duty-free shops at arrival airport terminals, the government has revised related laws and has picked small-to-mid sized travel retailers to run the shops.
Tax exemption per person is unchanged at US$600 despite the increased shopping opportunities. Koreans must report their purchases before leaving the security area and pay tax on the purchases exceeding the duty-free limit.
Liquors under 1-liter, tobacco up to 200 cigarettes, 60-millilitre or less perfume will not be included in the $600 cap as they are subject to a special tax.