Kwon Oh-seok, chairman of Giga Korea (a S. Korean developer of online and offline shopping mall solutions) has been inaugurated as CEO (also the largest shareholder) of MK Mall, a Hallyu (or the Korean wave)-themed one-stop shopping center, located in Yeongdeungpo, a district in southwest Seoul.
“By combining a new-concept IT shopping mall system, a Hallyu-based shopping mall with high-quality Korean products, I will transform this shopping center into an exciting one-stop “Hallyu” shopping destination, where foreign tourists can buy Hallyu-themed products, as well as enjoy Korean culture,” said CEO Kwon Oh-seok at his inaugural ceremony, held on June 23 at the MK Mall.
“Though the annual number of foreign visitors to S. Korea broke the 10 million mark, growth in S. Korea’s tour programs and shopping malls has been taking baby steps. To address this, I have opened the MK Mall, the nation’s first one-stop shopping center designed specifically to cater to foreign visitors,” CEO Kwon added.
The MK Mall covers a total area of 9,456 ㎡ in Yeongdeungpo and features Hallyu Zone, K-Beauty Zone, etc. In particular, the MK Mall houses nearly 100 cosmetics shops, the largest presence in the nation. They will sell products that cannot be easily found at other department stores or duty free stores.
The MK Mall is also a place where foreign visitors can experience various aspects of Hallyu, represented by K-Pop and Korean soap operas. As Korean cosmetics are enjoying an immense popularity amongst Chinese women, the MK Mall also runs Beauty Academy.
For medical tourists to S. Korea, there is Maris Mall, a medical theme park, located next to Incheon St. Mary’s Hospital. The Maris Mall is a new-concept medical mall which allows visitors to have beauty and medical treatments and medical checkups, as well as entertainment experiences.
The MK Mall has already signed contracts with 55 Korean travel agencies and approximately 600 tour guides to attract foreign visitors and is seeking to strike partnerships with overseas travel agencies and institutions and organizations, related to the business of MICE (Meeting, Incentive Travel, Convention and Exhibition).
Having completed consultations with JTB (the largest travel agency in Japan) on sending 350,000 Japanese tourists annually to the MK Mall, the MK Mall is now on course to sign a contract with JTB. It is also in talks with three major Chinese travel agencies and air charter companies, according to the MK Mall.
Furthermore, once the MK Mall gets on track to growth, the MK Mall will try to secure financial soundness by switching its shop management style from directly managed retail stores to leasing. And it is also planning to pay travel agencies and tour guides the highest commission in the nation to ensure win-win business relationships with them.
“In the future, the MK Mall will contribute to spurring on Hallyu by luring in more foreign visitors. And we will pave the way for the distribution of excellent products manufactured by Korean SMEs. To that end, we will continuously develop business items to achieve shared growth.
Meanwhile, Giga Korea is a S. Korea-based IT company that develops and supplies online and offline shopping mall systems. It has nearly 50 patents, utility models and copyrights under its belt. In March 2015, Giga Korea gained attention by disclosing its O2O (Online to Offline) multi-purpose business platform using numeric domain names.
On top of that, Giga Korea has already struck deals with major Chinese companies, including CITIC Group (one of China's largest state-owned conglomerates) and Guo Dunjivi, to support 180 offline stores and sales organizations in 300 Chinese cities.
