Pharmacies emerge as new K-beauty stops for foreign tourists

Foreign tourists are increasingly visiting pharmacies in Seoul’s Namdaemun Market and Myeong-dong to buy pharmacy-only skin treatments and pharmacy-sold cosmetics. Park Jun-sun said foreign visitors account for 40 to 50 percent of sales at his Namdaemun pharmacy, while some Myeong-dong pharmacies are positioning themselves as beauty-shopping destinations. Visitors cited pharmacists’ expertise and product reliability, and social media recommendations have helped drive interest.

Korea Tourism Organization data showed pharmacies accounted for 13.88 percent of foreign visitors’ medical-related spending in September, totaling 31.8 billion won ($24 million).

The pharmacy share of foreign visitors’ medical-related spending rose 5.6 percentage points from around 8.3 percent in December 2025.

Noscana Gel and Acnon Cream, made by Dong-A Pharmaceutical, are over-the-counter drugs that must be sold through pharmacies under Korea’s Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.

Pharmacy-sold PDRN skin care products are cosmetics, not medicines.

Park said tourists from Singapore, Taiwan and Mexico help support his pharmacy’s business amid thin margins and neighborhood pharmacy closures.

Published Oct 24, 2026 7:00 am KST

Noscana Gel and Acnon Cream are on sale at a pharmacy near Namdaemun Market in central Seoul. Korea Times file by Hyun Jin-hyeok

In Seoul's bustling Namdaemun Market, a group of American tourists stepped out of a pharmacy and opened their shopping bags to show their haul: a box of Bacchus energy drinks and three packages of polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN) skin care products.

Inside, other foreign shoppers queued at the counters with acne treatments, scar gels and cosmetics in hand. Pharmacists in white coats scanned their purchases at the registers.

Scenes like this are becoming increasingly common as Korean pharmacies emerge as a new stop on the K-beauty tourism route. Foreign visitors are seeking both over-the-counter (OTC) dermatological drugs available only at pharmacies and pharmacy-sold cosmetics promoted through social media.

“Foreign tourists now account for 40 to 50 percent of our sales,” Park Jun-sun, who runs one of the pharmacies in Namdaemun Market, told The Korea Times. “There weren’t that many when I opened two years ago, but the number suddenly started rising about a year ago.”

Even at larger pharmacies that cater mainly to Korean customers, foreign shoppers have become more visible. Staff at one store estimated that they now make up about one in 10 customers, a notable share at a pharmacy with four to six pharmacists working behind the counters.

“The number has increased recently. They mostly buy skin care products,” a pharmacist said, an observation echoed by others in the area.

New stop on K-beauty trail

According to Korea Tourism Organization data, pharmacies accounted for 13.88 percent of foreign visitors’ medical-related spending in September, totaling 31.8 billion won ($24 million). That share was up by 5.6 percentage points from December 2025, when it was around 8.3 percent.

The main reason behind the trend is the availability of products that foreign visitors cannot buy at ordinary cosmetics retailers.

Park pointed to Noscana Gel and Acnon Cream, Dong-A Pharmaceutical products used for scars and acne, respectively, as some of the most frequently requested items at his store.

Under Korea’s Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, both are classified as OTC drugs that must be sold through pharmacies. They are distinct from pharmacy-sold cosmetics such as PDRN skin care products, which are not medicines but have also become popular among foreign visitors.

Social media has helped drive interest in both categories. Foreign tourists increasingly arrive with lists of products they have seen recommended on Instagram and other platforms, often seeking treatments and cosmetics that are less familiar or less accessible in their home countries.

Other pharmacists have noticed the trend as well.

“Customers come in asking for products they saw on Instagram,” said a pharmacist who runs a store in the market. “We Koreans also visit local pharmacies when traveling abroad, especially in countries like France. I see this as a similar trend.”

For pharmacies, growing interest in pharmacy-exclusive products offers a business opportunity by also stocking cosmetics that are not classified as medicines.

“Pharmacies are already operating on very thin margins, with fierce competition driving drug prices as low as they can go. Neighborhood pharmacies are closing down,” Park said. “But beauty products targeting foreign tourists give us more flexibility in pricing.”

Without tourists from places such as Singapore, Taiwan and Mexico, he said, business would probably “fare a lot worse.”

People walk past a pharmacy in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, Oct. 18. Yonhap

Pharmacies gain ground in beauty retail

A short walk away in Myeong-dong, the trend has gone a step further.

Some pharmacies no longer simply serve foreign tourists who happen to stop by, and increasingly position themselves as beauty-shopping destinations in their own right, competing for the same customers who flock to cosmetics stores in the neighborhood.

In one of Korea’s best-known K-beauty hubs, where Olive Young’s bright green shopping bags are seen everywhere, pharmacy signs bearing white crosses now stand out among the beauty retailers.

Inside, some pharmacies operate much like conventional cosmetics stores. Staff greet customers at the entrance and guide them to shelves stocked with popular products, while pharmacists in white coats move through the aisles offering advice.

“We came to a pharmacy because we think it is more reliable than Olive Young,” said a German couple who bought a skin-firming cream. “In Germany, pharmacies and cosmetics stores are separate. We thought pharmacists would know what they were doing.”

Some pharmacies have already built reputations overseas. A Taiwanese visitor shopping at a Myeong-dong pharmacy said it had been widely recommended back home.

“Lists of must-buy items are shared on Instagram,” the tourist said. “Personally, I believe the ingredients in products sold at pharmacies are better than those in products sold at beauty retailers.”

That perception of greater expertise and reliability is becoming part of pharmacies’ appeal to foreign beauty shoppers, helping make them a new stop on the K-beauty trail.

越来越多的外国游客光顾首尔南大门市场和明洞的药店，购买药店专供的护肤品和化妆品。朴俊善表示，在他位于南大门的药店里，外国游客的销售额占总销售额的40%到50%，而明洞的一些药店也正努力将自己打造成为美容购物目的地。游客们称赞药剂师的专业知识和产品的可靠性，社交媒体的推荐也促进了他们的消费兴趣。

韩国旅游发展局数据显示，9 月份外国游客在药店的医疗相关支出占其总支出的 13.88%，总额达 318 亿韩元（2400 万美元）。

2025 年 12 月，外国游客医疗相关支出中药房所占份额上升了 5.6 个百分点，从约 8.3% 上升至 8.3%。

由东亚制药生产的诺斯卡纳凝胶和阿克农乳膏是韩国《药品事务法》规定的非处方药，必须通过药店销售。

药店出售的PDRN护肤品是化妆品，不是药品。

朴先生表示，在利润微薄、邻里药店纷纷倒闭的情况下，来自新加坡、台湾和墨西哥的游客帮助支撑了他的药店生意。

发布于2026年10月24日 上午7:00（韩国标准时间）

诺斯卡纳凝胶和艾康霜在首尔市中心南大门市场附近的一家药店有售。韩国时报记者玄镇赫报道。

在首尔熙熙攘攘的南大门市场，一群美国游客从一家药店走出来，打开购物袋，展示他们的战利品：一盒巴克斯能量饮料和三包聚脱氧核糖核苷酸（PDRN）护肤品。

店内，其他外国顾客手持祛痘产品、疤痕凝胶和化妆品，在柜台前排队等候。身穿白大褂的药剂师在收银台扫描他们的购买商品。

随着韩国药店成为韩妆旅游路线上的新一站，这样的场景变得越来越常见。外国游客既想购买只能在药店买到的非处方皮肤科药物，也想购买通过社交媒体推广的药店销售的化妆品。

“外国游客现在占我们销售额的40%到50%。”南大门市场一家药店的老板朴俊善告诉《韩国时报》，“两年前我刚开业的时候，外国游客没这么多，但大约一年前，游客数量突然开始激增。”

即使在主要服务韩国顾客的大型药店，外国顾客也越来越常见。一家药店的员工估计，外国顾客现在约占顾客总数的十分之一，对于一家拥有四到六名药剂师的药店来说，这算是一个相当可观的比例。

“最近人数有所增加。他们大多购买护肤品，”一位药剂师说道，该地区的其他人也表达了类似的看法。

韩国美妆之旅新站

根据韩国旅游发展局的数据，9月份外国游客在药店的医疗相关支出占其总支出的13.88%，总额达318亿韩元（约合2400万美元）。这一比例较2025年12月的约8.3%上升了5.6个百分点。

这一趋势背后的主要原因是，外国游客无法在普通化妆品零售店买到某些产品。

朴先生指出，东亚制药生产的用于治疗疤痕和痤疮的诺斯卡纳凝胶和阿克农乳膏是他店里最常被顾客询问的商品之一。

根据韩国《药品法》，这两种药物均被归类为非处方药，必须通过药店销售。它们与药店销售的化妆品（例如PDRN护肤品）不同，后者并非药品，但也深受外国游客的欢迎。

社交媒体推动了人们对这两类产品的兴趣。越来越多的外国游客带着他们在Instagram和其他平台上看到的推荐产品清单前来旅游，他们往往寻求在自己国家不太常见或不易获得的疗法和化妆品。

其他药剂师也注意到了这种趋势。

“顾客会来店里询问他们在Instagram上看到的商品，”一位在市场里经营药店的药剂师说。“我们韩国人出国旅行时也会光顾当地药店，尤其是在像法国这样的国家。我认为这里也出现了类似的趋势。”

对于药店而言，人们对药店专供产品的兴趣日益浓厚，这为药店提供了商机，他们也可以进购不属于药品范畴的化妆品。

“药店的利润本来就很低，激烈的竞争已经把药品价格压到了最低点。社区药店正在纷纷倒闭，”朴女士说。“但针对外国游客的美容产品让我们在定价方面有了更大的灵活性。”

他表示，如果没有来自新加坡、台湾和墨西哥等地的游客，生意可能会“变得更糟”。

10月18日，人们走过首尔市中心明洞的一家药店。（韩联社）

药店在美容零售领域占据优势

在不远处的明洞，这种趋势更进一步。

一些药店不再仅仅服务于偶然路过的外国游客，而是越来越多地将自己定位为独立的美容购物目的地，与附近化妆品店争夺同一批顾客。

在韩国最著名的 K-beauty 中心之一，Olive Young 的亮绿色购物袋随处可见，而带有白色十字的药店招牌在众多美妆零售商中显得格外醒目。

有些药店内部的运作方式与传统的化妆品店非常相似。店员在入口处迎接顾客，引导他们前往摆放着热门产品的货架，而身穿白大褂的药剂师则在货架间穿梭，提供咨询服务。

“我们来药店是因为觉得它比Olive Young更可靠，”一对购买紧肤霜的德国夫妇说。“在德国，药店和化妆品店是分开的。我们认为药剂师更专业。”

有些药店已经在海外建立了良好的声誉。一位在明洞一家药店购物的台湾游客表示，这家药店在台湾广受好评。

“Instagram上经常有人分享必买清单，”这位游客说。“就我个人而言，我认为药店出售的产品成分比美容零售店出售的产品成分更好。”

这种对药店更专业、更可靠的印象，正成为药店吸引外国美容消费者的因素之一，也使药店成为韩国美容产品之旅的新一站。