Where are the best places in Korea to shop for K-beauty and pharmacy products?

Myeong-dong brings street-front shops, department stores and duty-free shops together in one area. Across Korea, pharmacies sell skincare and functional cosmetics alongside medicines, while Jongno 4–5-ga has a long-established concentration of pharmacies.

VISITKOREA’s Bukchon walk starts at Exit 2 or 3 of Anguk Station (Line 3), and Bukchon Culture Center is at 37 Gyedong-gil.

A pharmacy stop on your Bukchon walk

Bukchon Wellness Museum, a pharmacy at 33-2 Gyedong-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 1st–2nd floors, is a 3-minute walk from Anguk Station (Line 3), Exit 3. Inside are a health measurement area and a tea lounge, with a foot bath on the terrace and a rooftop; tiled roofs are visible from the windows. The five featured Korean cosmetics brands are A.THEORY, LIENJANG, BLANCMUSE, 옵티팜 and LISSEDERM. The pharmacy is open every day of the year, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and English, Chinese and Japanese are spoken. Alipay and WeChat Pay are accepted. Immediate tax refunds (Tax Refund) are offered for foreign visitors.

How immediate tax refunds work

The following are the general rules of Korea’s immediate tax refund scheme. Under Korea’s immediate tax refund scheme, some shops displaying a “Tax Refund” or “Tax Free” sign offer an immediate refund. Your passport is used to verify eligibility, and you pay the item price with the tax amount deducted.

To qualify for an immediate refund, a single purchase must be at least KRW 15,000 and under KRW 1 million, and your immediate-refund purchases over the trip must total KRW 5 million or less. Cosmetics are eligible, but items opened or used before you leave Korea are not.