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Construction for first Costco branch in southwest Korea set to begin in summer

Published: 26 Jun. 2025, 18:47 Updated: 27 Jun. 2025, 07:51

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

A sign is on display at Costco in Los Angeles, California, on May 28, 2025. Construction for the warehouse retailer's Iksan branch will start in August, 2025, the city's mayor, Jung Heon-yul, said on June 26. [EPA/YONHAP]

Construction for Costco's Iksan branch in North Jeolla, the warehouse retailer's first in Korea's southwestern region, will finally start this summer after facing multiple delays, the city's mayor said Thursday.

"Costco's entry in Iksan has been confirmed, with construction for the branch's access road starting in August," Mayor Jung Heon-yul said in a press conference marking the third anniversary of his term.

The Iksan store will be built on a 37,000-square-meter (398,000-square-foot) plot in Wanggun-myeon. It will be the first Costco store to open in the southwestern region of the North and South Jeolla provinces.

The city government projects that the store will open at the earliest during the Lunar New Year holiday in 2027, following a year of construction.

The Iksan branch faced many road bumps leading to this stage. Costco Korea first signed a conditional agreement with a local logistics firm to open a store in 2021, but the deal was terminated in early 2023 due to delays in administrative procedures and issues in site development.

Iksan then announced in May 2023 that Costco signed a memorandum of understanding with the city and provincial authorities for its construction, with the goal of opening by the end of 2025. But political turbulence following a short-lived martial law imposed in late 2024 had Costco delaying negotiations with the site's landowner, citing Korea's "emergency political situation."

The city government anticipates that Costco will create around 200 jobs and potentially increase the population surrounding the store. Authorities have also proposed measures to protect Iksan's small businesses that will have to compete with the big-box retailer.

“This is more than the establishment of a retail facility," Jung said at the Thursday event. "It will serve as a catalyst for Iksan’s emergence as a key hub within the greater regional economy."

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]