Myeong-dong Main Commercial District Requires Up to 2 Billion Won in Deposit and Key Money Alone... "Even Then, There Are No Vacancies" [Report]

On the morning of the 21st in Myeong-dong, Jung District, Seoul, the streets were packed with foreign tourists despite a steady rain. From people sitting in restaurants to those coming and going from shops, it was hard to find any Koreans. Cafes were already full of foreign visitors who had finished shopping before lunch. With so many foreigners around, empty storefronts were hard to find. When asked whether there were any vacancies, one brokerage office replied that there were almost none in the main commercial area. A licensed real estate agent identified as A said, "Even in the outer parts of Myeong-dong, the key money and deposit alone come to more than 800 million won." He added, "Demand is so strong that landlords now get to choose their tenants."
Myeong-dong, once known as a 'vacancy hell,' is coming back to life. More foreign visitors are coming to Korea for K-pop, K-beauty, and other attractions, and many are heading to Myeong-dong because of its easy access. Building rents, which had fallen, are also rising quickly.
According to the Korea Real Estate Board (KREB), the vacancy rate for medium- and large-sized commercial properties in Myeong-dong, which stood at 50.1% in the fourth quarter of 2021, plunged to 5% in the first quarter of this year. That is a drop of more than one-tenth in just four years and three months. Medium- and large-sized commercial properties are general buildings with three or more floors or a total floor area exceeding 330 square meters.
Myeong-dong's commercial district, which showed little sign of recovery throughout 2022 as vacancy rates stayed above 40%, began to rebound when the rate fell into the 20% range at the end of 2023. Since then, Korean culture such as Squid Game has spread worldwide, bringing a surge in tourists and cutting the vacancy rate to 11.2% in the first quarter of 2025 and 7.2% in the second quarter. According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), the number of foreign visitors to Korea in the first quarter of this year reached 4.76 million, the highest on record.
A walk through both the main commercial area and the side streets of Myeong-dong found not a single vacant store. The only two empty spaces spotted were both undergoing interior renovations.
As popularity has grown, building rents have also climbed. According to the Seoul City Commercial District Analysis Service, the average building rent per 3.3 square meters rose from 220,254 won in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 258,833 won a year later, a jump of 13.9%. Rents for first-floor units, which are more sought after, rose 34.9% over the same period. The store closure rate has remained in the 1% range for three consecutive quarters.
A licensed real estate agent identified as B near Myeong-dong said, "To open a 40-square-meter store in the main commercial area, you should expect to pay more than 2 billion won in deposit and key money, and around 80 million won in monthly rent." He added, "This is not the Myeong-dong of the past, when business was slow."
kjh0109@fnnews.com Kwon Jun-ho Reporter