Olive Young in Seoul: Which Store, the 5% Visitor Discount and Tax Refunds

For a first visit, go to Olive Young Central Myeongdong Town, 27 Myeongdong 8-gil, five minutes from Exit 6 of Myeongdong Station (Line 4), open 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. It has the largest range of any Olive Young, about 15,000 products from 1,000 brands. At the till, show that you follow Olive Young Global on social media for 5% off a basket of ₩100,000 or more, and hand over your physical passport for the instant tax refund. The big Olive Young Sale runs for a week in March, June, September and December.

Which Olive Young in Seoul should I go to?

Pick by what the trip is for. These are the large stores Olive Young runs in the districts visitors use most, all of them tax refund shops:

Hours as listed on each store’s page on October 16, 2026. Last entry is 10:20 p.m. at Central Myeongdong Town, 10:50 p.m. at Hongdae Town and, per a note on its page, 9:45 p.m. at N Seongsu. Hongdae Town is on the main road that runs from Exit 8 of Hongik University Station, Cosmorning reported when it opened. For the walk from each exit, our Naver Map guide shows how to get walking directions without Google Maps.

Our pick: Central Myeongdong Town if you’ll make one big shop; any of the others if it saves you a subway transfer.

What is at Olive Young Central Myeongdong Town?

Central Myeongdong Town opened on March 26, 2026 and is, Olive Young says, its largest store by range and its second-largest by floor space, after N Seongsu. It covers about 3,140 square metres on B1 to 3F of M Plaza. The headline section is the Masks Library, about 800 face masks arranged by skin type and function, including sheet, modeling and bubble masks. The Masks Library is on the 3rd floor and the checkouts are on the ground floor, so start at the top, work down and pay last.

Checkout was designed for bulk buying: its 22 staffed counters are the most at any Olive Young. Staff who can help in English, Chinese or Japanese wear the matching national flag badge, and the store has added multilingual signs for tax refunds and payment methods. Its store page lists the immediate tax refund, mobile payment and gift card sales.

Is Olive Young Myeongdong Global the same as Myeongdong Town?

Yes. Olive Young’s English site and store page call the Myeongdong-gil store OLIVE YOUNG MYEONGDONG GLOBAL; in Korean it is Myeongdong Town. It is a separate store from Central Myeongdong Town. Three details matter if you shop there:

• Refund desk. The Global Service Lounge on the 2nd floor has a desk for Global Tax Free (GTF), one of Korea’s refund operators. If you have refund slips from another shop that also uses GTF, bring them and your physical passport there. Our tax refund guide explains how these city refunds work.
• No restroom or bag storage. The store has no restroom and says to use the one in the subway station. It does not hold luggage or umbrellas.
• Bags and bulk. Paper bags ₩100, reusable bags ₩500, gift boxes ₩1,000–₩2,500. No separate bulk orders: only what’s on the shelf.

Is Olive Young N Seongsu worth the trip?

Not on its own: N Seongsu is the largest Olive Young by floor space, but Central Myeongdong Town has the wider range, so go only if you are already spending the day in Seongsu. It is in the Factorial Seongsu building, 100 metres from Exit 4 of Seongsu Station (Line 2), and runs monthly pop-ups and exhibitions, a Skin Scan service with skin and scalp consulting and personal colour diagnosis, immediate tax refunds and mobile payment.

Is there an Olive Young near Gangnam Station?

Yes, two. Central Gangnam Town is right at Exit 10 of Gangnam Station (Line 2), at 403 Gangnam-daero; Gangnam Town, at 429 Gangnam-daero, a four-minute walk straight on from Exit 10, has a K-Beauty Now zone and a pop-up zone that change every month, its store page says. Central Gangnam Town opened in July 2025 with about 1,157 square metres of selling space: B1 to 3F of shopping plus a members’ lounge on 4F, News1 reported (via Financial News).

Do Olive Young staff speak English?

Some do at the big visitor stores. At Central Myeongdong Town, staff who speak English, Chinese or Japanese wear a matching flag badge, and the Myeongdong Town site lists foreign-language assistance among its services.

If no English speaker is free, look for the AI Shopping Assistant kiosk, which Olive Young put in some Seoul stores in June 2026: it answers in eight languages, including English and Japanese, about products, stock, where items are, payment and VAT refunds.

How do tourists get a discount at Olive Young?

Follow an Olive Young Global social account, such as @oliveyoung_global on Instagram or TikTok, and show the follow screen at a staffed till: you get 5% off a purchase of ₩100,000 or more, up to ₩20,000. The Korean membership is not open to you unless you live in Korea and have a phone number in your own name.

At the till, show the follow screen and hand over your passport together. The event page sets these conditions:

• Once per person; following with several accounts does not repeat it.
• At a staffed till only, not at self-checkout kiosks.
• Not combined with other coupons, the only exclusion the page lists; it does not exclude the immediate tax refund.
• At listed stores only. In Seoul the list includes Central Myeongdong Town, Myeongdong Town, N Seongsu, Gangnam Town, Central Gangnam Town and Hongdae Town.

The offer has run since April 11, 2025, with no end date set, though Olive Young Global says it may change or end it. Do the follow before you queue, so you are not fumbling at the counter.

The OY MEMBERS program on Olive Young Global, the overseas online store, is free to join, but its membership page says it does not work at Olive Young stores in Korea. Membership prices in Korean stores go only to members with a Korean online mall account.

How do I pay at Olive Young?

By card or mobile payment. VisitKorea lists cards as accepted at N Seongsu and Gangnam Town. Olive Young’s February 2026 announcement lists UnionPay, Alipay, WeChat Pay and WOWPASS, the prepaid card for foreign visitors, as ways to pay in its stores. WOWPASS payment also comes on the Tmoney Travel Card+, a transit card covered in our T-money guide.

How does the tax refund work at Olive Young?

Hand your physical passport to the cashier with a basket of ₩15,000 or more on one receipt, and the tax comes off the price, less a fee. The Myeongdong Town FAQ lists hygiene products (위생용품), shopping bags and dried fruit products as not eligible. Without your physical passport, the FAQ says you get a refund voucher instead and claim the refund at the airport’s refund counter. Limits, the airport steps and the liquids rule are in our tax refund guide.

Can I return or exchange something I bought at Olive Young?

Yes, within 15 days, if the product is unopened. Bring the receipt and the card or payment method you used. Exchanges can be done at any Olive Young store in Korea, for an item of the same or higher value. Refunds happen only at the store where you paid, so decide on expensive items before the till if you won’t be back.

When is the Olive Young Sale?

The Olive Young Sale runs for a week four times a year, in March, June, September and December, according to Olive Young’s own sale guide. The September 2026 sale ran for seven days from August 30, Dong-A Ilbo reported two days before it began, so a sale week can start in the last days of the month before. The next one is expected around the start of December 2026; Olive Young had not announced its dates by October 16.

Other promotions on the same guide matter less to a visitor:

Today’s Special deals are online only.

Our planning advice: if your dates are flexible and shopping is a main reason for the trip, overlap a sale week. Otherwise, check which brands are this month’s Olive Young Pick when you arrive.

Before you go

• Carry your physical passport, not a photo of it.
• Follow an Olive Young Global social account before you reach the till.
• Keep each receipt at ₩15,000 or more for the refund.
• Keep receipts and leave products sealed if you might return them within 15 days.
• Bring your own bag; Myeongdong Town charges for them.
• Check the use-by date on anything you stock up on; our labels guide shows where to find it.
• For sheet masks and minis at ₩5,000 or less, our Daiso guide covers the 12-storey store in Myeongdong; each shop’s receipt has to reach ₩15,000 on its own for the refund.
• Get in by 10:20 p.m. at Central Myeongdong Town, 10:50 p.m. at Hongdae Town and 9:45 p.m. at N Seongsu.

Steve OH edits Seoulpin. Steve runs Standardpin, a Seoul-based web studio that also builds websites for clinics; that work has no effect on whether or how any clinic appears here. Articles are drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed and reviewed by Steve before publishing. How we work