The Korean retail sector is booming

The South Korean retail sector (US$280 billion in 2017) is thriving with a 6% year-over-year increase in retail sales by the third quarter in 2018. South Korea was adversely impacted by the international crisis in 2017 about missile defence technology, with poor relations between North Korea and the U.S.A. One of the factors fuelling the new growth is better South Korean relation with China and North Korea. The recent surge of Chinese tourists into South Korea explains the rise of the duty-free