Korean
"오픈런에 싹쓸이"…한국여행 필수템 된 K굿즈
In English
“Open-run and sweep them up” — K-goods have become must-buy items on trips to Korea.
What the Internet Is Really Saying
The revealing detail is the standard retailers describe: the strongest K-goods are not simply items decorated with flags, Hangul, or traditional patterns. Buyers are drawn to practical, polished objects that still carry Korean materials, stories, or design references.
A charger shaped like a small table
On Aug. 12, foreign tourists were photographed shopping in Myeongdong, one of Seoul’s main retail districts. Newsis reported that 10 million foreign tourists visited Korea in the first half of this year, bringing new demand to a weak domestic market.
Some of that spending is going into K-goods: merchandise with Korean design, drama stories, or locally developed characters. Shellang Korea’s mother-of-pearl soban wireless charger, a small table-shaped charger decorated with mother-of-pearl, posted a 44 percent increase in first-half sales from a year earlier, and its cumulative transaction value has passed 1.48 billion won since it won a Korea Tourism Organization souvenir competition in 2021.
Other examples in the report point in the same direction. Mimid Design’s sales tripled last year, helped by its Joseon royal wine stopper, while Kim’s Mee’s gold crown brooch sold about 1 billion won worth in the four months after launch.
Korean, but not souvenir-like
The phrase running through the Newsis report is direct: “Korean, but not souvenir-like.” Museum goods are especially popular when they do more than reproduce tradition, instead making it usable in everyday life.
Shellang Korea CEO Cho Sang-myung linked the interest to the widening reach of Hallyu, from music and drama into food, fashion, and traditional culture. He said consumers are responding to products with materials and stories unique to Korea that can still be used daily.
“Simply putting the Taegeukgi, Hangul, or traditional patterns on something does not mean it will be chosen as K-goods,” Cho told Newsis. He named three traits he sees in popular products: a story that could only come from Korea, modern design with practical function, and a level of finish attractive at first sight.
Drama fandom moves into funding pages
The shopping pattern extends beyond museum products. K-drama merchandise is also finding buyers overseas, and some rights holders are using crowdfunding to measure demand before wider distribution.
Studio Dragon ran an official goods campaign on Wadiz after “Bon Appétit, Your Majesty” ended last year. The campaign passed 145.3 million won, with overseas fandom accounting for 10 percent and payments coming from 21 countries, including Japan, the United States, Mexico, and the UAE. Tuna Paper’s official goods funding for “SBS Taxi Driver 3” also passed 145.48 million won, with payments from 11 countries.
Domestic character brands are part of the same route. Wiggle Wiggle’s flagship stores in Dosan and Myeongdong draw an average of 500,000 visitors a month, with foreign visitors making up 70 to 80 percent.
Brands look beyond tourist districts
The companies in the report do not treat current sales as limited to Korea-trip purchases. Kim Mi-kyung, CEO of Kim’s Mee, said she expects the market to grow; at an exhibition in France, she said, many visitors asked for autographs and the response was strong.
Cho of Shellang Korea said K-goods are becoming “a market” rather than a temporary trend. He added that brands will need more than Korean-looking design: understanding of traditional culture, storytelling, and product competitiveness will become important.
Companies are also preparing overseas channels. Shellang Korea is expanding online sales abroad and plans to widen distribution so products can be bought locally overseas, not only by tourists in Korea. Kim’s Mee is working with cultural institutions including Switzerland’s Rietberg Museum and partners in Europe, the Americas, and Dubai; exports account for 60 percent of its sales.
Sources used in this article
Context & receipts
Media: Shellang Korea's official production-process video directly depicts the named Dalban product and explains its mother-of-pearl craft construction.
Add context, correction, or pushback.
Comments are reviewed before appearing.