Lotte in Nohyeong-dong, Shilla in Yeon-dong — Shop Smart at Both, They Say

If you're planning some duty-free shopping on your Jeju trip, you may have already heard of the two downtown duty-free stores in Jeju City — Lotte Duty Free's Jeju store in Nohyeong-dong, and Shilla Duty Free's Jeju store in Yeon-dong. GYULI covered each of them separately before, but today they're being brought together into one more practical guide. Rather than simply comparing which store is said to be better, this piece is meant to walk through the parts that tend to confuse both foreign tourists and domestic travelers when actually using a downtown duty-free store — why you're said to need your passport and boarding pass, why you don't get to take your purchase home on the spot, and what the difference is said to be between a 'purchase limit' and a 'duty-free allowance.' Knowing these ahead of time is said to help save both time and money.

Lotte in Nohyeong-dong, Shilla in Yeon-dong — where Jeju's two downtown duty-free stores sit

Lotte Duty Free's Jeju store is said to occupy floors one through three of the Jeju Yeondong Lotte City Hotel building on Doryeong-ro in Nohyeong-dong, Jeju City. It's said to be roughly a 10-minute drive from Jeju Airport, making it a convenient stop along the way to or from the airport. Shilla Duty Free's Jeju store sits in the same Sinjeju (new Jeju City) area, in Yeon-dong, and is said to be not far from Nuwemaru Street, a spot familiar to many travelers. Since both stores are located within the Yeon-dong and Nohyeong-dong commercial area known as Sinjeju, travelers with some time to spare could reasonably fit both into a single day's itinerary.

Both stores are said to operate from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., every day of the year. That said, business hours like these are said to be subject to change depending on the season or store circumstances, so it's worth checking the latest information before you visit. Operations are also said to sometimes run differently during holidays or peak season, so it's a good idea to build some extra time into your itinerary.

Getting the purchase process right

The first thing you're said to need when using a downtown duty-free store is your passport and boarding pass (or your outbound flight booking information). This is said to be checked as soon as you enter the store, so it's worth packing both in advance. There's one more thing worth knowing clearly here: paying at the store doesn't mean walking out with the item in hand. At downtown duty-free stores, payment is said to get you an exchange voucher rather than the physical item, and the actual product is said to be handed over only at the pickup counter at the airport or port on your day of departure, where you present your passport, boarding pass, and voucher together.

At the pickup counter, the process is said to involve pulling a number from a kiosk and waiting your turn before receiving the item. In other words, however much shopping you did in Nohyeong-dong or Yeon-dong, the moment the item actually reaches your hands is said to be right as you pass through the departure area at the airport. There's no option to have it delivered domestically or picked up after entering the country — it's said to be available only at the pickup counter on the day of departure, which is worth remembering. Pickup counters can reportedly get busy at times, with some wait involved, so building in extra time before departure is, in GYULI's view, the sensible way to go about it.

Two easily confused terms: 'purchase limit' and 'duty-free allowance'

One of the most commonly confused pairs of terms when it comes to downtown duty-free stores is said to be 'purchase limit' and 'duty-free allowance.' The purchase limit refers to the cap that used to define how much, in total, a domestic shopper was allowed to buy at a downtown duty-free store — said to have been set at $5,000 in the past. That purchase limit is said to have been fully abolished as of March 18, 2022, marking, by some accounts, the first such change in 43 years since the downtown duty-free system was introduced in 1979 — a fairly significant shift. As far as GYULI could find, there's been no news since then of the purchase limit being reinstated or the rule being changed again. So it seems reasonable, with some caution, to say this abolition still appears to be in effect as of now, in 2026. That said, this is only a soft confirmation based on not finding any news of a reversal, so it's worth double-checking for any updates around the time of your visit.

That's not the whole story, though. The purchase limit being gone does not mean you can buy any amount without ever owing tax — that would be a mix-up with a completely different concept, the duty-free allowance. The duty-free allowance is a rule overseen by Korea Customs, and it's said to state that once the combined value of everything you're bringing in — whether bought abroad or at a domestic downtown duty-free store — exceeds $800 per person, you're required to declare it and pay tax upon entry. This duty-free allowance has never been abolished and is said to remain fully in effect today. In short: there's no longer a cap on how much you can spend at a duty-free store itself, but there's still an $800 cap on how much you can bring in without owing tax. So if you shop around at both Lotte in Nohyeong-dong and Shilla in Yeon-dong, it's easy to end up well past that $800 mark — and if you want to shop smart with tax in mind, adding up your total purchases from both stores and keeping them near that $800 line is, in GYULI's view, the wiser approach.

If you're a foreign tourist, a slightly different question might come to mind. As mentioned, the purchase limit that used to apply to domestic shoppers has been abolished — but as for a separate purchase limit specifically for foreign tourists, GYULI wasn't able to confirm any such rule in the sources checked. It's said to come down to this: with just a passport and an outbound flight booking, both domestic and foreign travelers alike are able to use a downtown duty-free store. That said, things look different once you bring what you bought at a Korean downtown duty-free store back to your home country — each country is said to have its own customs and duty-free rules at entry, so it's worth checking your destination's customs regulations (China's, for instance) separately from Korea's duty-free allowance, just for peace of mind.

Lotte vs. Shilla, and comparing online before you go

Both stores are said to focus mainly on cosmetics, perfume, and luxury brands. Nationally, Lotte Duty Free is often said to have the largest sales scale and the widest range of luxury brands — but that assessment is said to be based on nationwide stores including the Myeongdong flagship, so there's no guarantee it holds true for the Jeju store specifically. The brand lineup at the Jeju store is said to change over time, so rather than assuming one store is simply better, it's worth visiting both and comparing for yourself.

As of July 2026, amid a broader trend of some overseas luxury brands pulling out of downtown duty-free stores, Shilla Duty Free's Jeju store is said to be doing the opposite — bringing in a range of domestic lifestyle and K-beauty brands and reshaping its store lineup around them. It's said to mark a shift away from the previously luxury-heavy mix toward strengthening K-brands, a direction that could well be welcome news for travelers with an interest in Korean local brands, in GYULI's view.

Comparing prices and perks on the online duty-free site before visiting in person is another smart way to shop. Pre-ordering through an online duty-free store is said to often come with more discounts or reward perks than buying in-store, with various ongoing promotions — referral perks, coupons, tiered discount coupons by purchase amount, and the like — said to run fairly regularly. The exact size of any discount can vary by timing, so it's hard to pin down specifics, but checking the price and perks for what you want online before heading to Nohyeong-dong or Yeon-dong is likely to make your shopping noticeably more cost-effective.

🍊 A Mood Photo, via GYULI