K-Beauty Experience Center Opens Third Location in Busan
South Korea’s leading K-beauty promotion platform, K-Beauty Play, has officially opened its third location in Busan, marking the first expansion outside the Seoul metropolitan area.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that the new K-Beauty Play Busan branch has opened in Seomyeon, one of Busan’s busiest commercial districts. The center serves as a comprehensive exhibition and hands-on experience space showcasing products from Korean small and medium-sized cosmetic companies.
The opening ceremony began with a congratulatory address from Vice Minister Lee Hyeong-hoon, followed by an unveiling ceremony. Visitors were also introduced to key programs, including beauty product exhibitions, skin analysis services, and makeup experience sessions.
Nearly Half a Million Visitors Since Launch
K-Beauty Play has become one of Korea’s most successful beauty tourism platforms since the launch of its first branch in Myeong-dong in 2021 and its second branch in Hongdae in 2024.
According to government data, cumulative visitors reached 488,247 as of May 2026. Among them, 131,690 people participated in beauty experience programs, demonstrating strong consumer interest in hands-on K-beauty experiences.
International tourists accounted for 98,231 of those participants, representing 74.6% of all beauty experience users. The figures highlight K-beauty’s growing appeal among global travelers visiting South Korea.
Supporting Regional Cosmetic Brands
To date, K-Beauty Play has showcased 5,993 products from 1,128 Korean small and medium-sized beauty companies, helping connect emerging Korean brands with domestic and international consumers.
Until now, the platform’s activities were concentrated in Seoul. The opening of the Busan branch creates a new gateway for promoting K-beauty in regional areas and supporting local cosmetic businesses.
More than half of the brands featured at the Busan center come from companies located south of the Chungcheong region, providing greater visibility for beauty brands based in Busan, Gyeongsang Province, Jeolla Province, and other non-capital regions.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to use the Busan location as a strategic hub to strengthen the global competitiveness of regional beauty companies and support their expansion into overseas markets.
K-Beauty’s Global Rise Continues
Vice Minister Lee Hyeong-hoon emphasized the critical role of smaller beauty companies in Korea’s global success story.
“K-Beauty’s remarkable rise to become the world’s second-largest cosmetics exporter has been driven by innovative and technologically advanced small and medium-sized brands,” Lee said. “The government will continue providing strong support so these brands can fully realize their potential in the global market.”
As K-beauty continues to attract international consumers, the expansion of K-Beauty Play into Busan represents another step toward broadening Korea’s beauty tourism infrastructure and creating new opportunities for regional brands to reach global audiences.
KOREA FBI Editor’s Comment
The opening of K-Beauty Play Busan reflects a new phase of K-beauty’s growth. While Seoul has long been the center of Korea’s beauty industry, regional brands are increasingly gaining international attention. By creating direct experience opportunities for foreign visitors and highlighting local beauty innovators, Busan’s new K-Beauty Play hub could become an important gateway for the next generation of Korean cosmetic brands.
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