Incheon Airport to have duty-free shop at arrival gates next year

Incheon International Airport will have duty-free shops at arrival airport terminals in May next year. It appears to alleviate the inconvenience of having to purchase duty-free items in a hurry or traveling with duty-free goods that were purchased in advance. Such regulatory reform measures were announced by the government on Thursday at the 6th Ministerial Meeting for Innovative Growth Relations held by Deputy Prime Minister and Economy and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon at the Seoul Government Complex.

First of all, the government decided to launch duty-free shops at the arrival airport terminals to alleviate the inconvenience of travelers as well as to transfer foreign consumption to Korea. Duty-free products excluding tobaccos, fruits, dairy products will be sold at duty-free shops at arrival airport terminals. Businesses should be selected in March next year through bids targeting small and mid-sized companies. The arrival airport terminal duty-free stores, which had been sought since 2003, continued to fail due to opposition from airlines and former duty-free entities but took a turn as President Moon Jae-in instructed on August 13 to review the introduction of duty-free stops at the arrival airport terminals.

Furthermore, stock firms and card companies will be able to make foreign transmissions within the limit of 30,000 dollars per year starting from next year. Currently, only banks and professional remittance entities may conduct such duty. Foreign currency regulation for funds up to 50,000 dollars that flow into Korea from abroad will be eased by allowing the concerned person to make oral explanation on the source of such fund.


Choong-Hyun Song balgun@donga.com