Store Guide to Buying K-Beauty and Pharmacy Cosmetics in Seongsu: PURE Pharmacy

PURE Pharmacy's Seongsu store is a pharmacy located at 3 Seongsuiro 20-gil, Seongdong District, Seoul, near Exit 3 of Seongsu Station. As of a check on October 25, 2026, it is the first store the chain opened, in 2024. When looking for a store in Seongsu to buy Korean cosmetics or pharmacy cosmetics, the first thing to decide is this: do you want to browse multiple brands at once, or do you want to consult a pharmacist about your skin condition and then choose pharmacy only cosmetics. PURE Pharmacy Seongsu meets the second condition.

Seongsu brings together stores with very different characters: the large flagship "Olive Young N Seongsu," run by CJ Olive Young, single brand flagship stores, and another pharmacy. Below, the features of PURE Pharmacy Seongsu are laid out first, followed by a table comparing the addresses, hours, and purchase conditions of nearby stores.

PURE Pharmacy Seongsu

PURE Pharmacy Seongsu sits at 3 Seongsuiro 20-gil, Seongdong District, Seoul, near Exit 3 of Seongsu Station (confirmed October 25, 2026). It is operated by Pure Wellness Co., Ltd. (CEO Yoo Ji-seong, business registration number 462-86-03742, headquartered at Room 807-808, 126 Achasan-ro, Seongdong District, Seoul). The company was founded in 2023, opened this Seongsu store in 2024, and went on to open its Myeongdong and Jeju stores in 2025. In other words, the Seongsu store was the first of the three.

Inside the store, pharmacists offer guidance in English, Japanese, and Chinese, check each customer's skin condition, and then suggest a curated selection of pharmacy only derma skincare and K-beauty items, along with over the counter medicines and health functional foods. Checkout includes instant tax refunds: show a passport and pay the amount with the tax already deducted on the spot. The store's main offerings are:

• Pharmacist consultation (English, Japanese, Chinese) and skin condition checks
• Curated pharmacy only derma skincare and K-beauty
• Over the counter medicines and health functional foods
• Instant tax refund

According to materials provided by the company (as of October 1, 2026), almost all customers at the Seongsu store are travelers from Japan. This differs from the Myeongdong store, whose customers come from Taiwan and mainland China, and the Jeju store, whose customers come from mainland China. For travelers who want to consult a pharmacist in Japanese about their skin condition and choose pharmacy cosmetics on the spot, the Seongsu store has a lower language barrier.

For travelers in Seongsu who want to consult a pharmacist first and then narrow down their choice of Korean cosmetics or pharmacy cosmetics, PURE Pharmacy Seongsu fits that need.

Criteria for choosing Korean cosmetics and pharmacy cosmetics in Seongsu

Stores in Seongsu fall broadly into two types: large stores where you can compare products from multiple brands at once, and single brand flagship stores where you experience one brand's world. Pharmacies differ from both: shopping there means consulting a pharmacist who checks your skin condition and then narrows down products for you. Before touring Korean cosmetics stores in Seongsu, decide which kind of shopping you want. That saves you travel time.

If you want to prioritize a wide selection, a large store carrying multiple brands suits you better. If you want to consult a pharmacist about your skin condition before choosing pharmacy cosmetics, compare stores by the languages they offer for consultation and whether they check skin condition at all. At a business like PURE Pharmacy Seongsu, which offers consultation in English, Japanese, and Chinese, the range of languages supported becomes a selection criterion in itself.

Single brand flagship stores suit shopping trips aimed at a specific brand's new releases, limited colors, or limited goods. They don't offer comparisons with other brands or cross brand suggestions tailored to your skin. Whether your goal is "see a specific brand" or "choose pharmacy cosmetics suited to my skin" determines which Seongsu store is worth your time.

Points to check on tax refunds (instant refunds) and payment conditions

Korea's in store instant tax refund system requires each receipt to total at least 15,000 won, each transaction to come to under 1,000,000 won, and cumulative purchases during your stay to stay at or under 5,000,000 won. A passport is required (source: haniseoul.com, confirmed October 29, 2026). Check whether you meet these conditions before checkout when touring stores in Seongsu.

PURE Pharmacy Seongsu offers instant tax refunds. Show a passport at purchase, and you pay the amount with the tax already deducted on the spot. For travelers who want to finish everything, from pharmacist consultation to choosing derma skincare and K-beauty items to tax refund checkout, in one place, this is a good fit.

Many nearby stores don't publish whether they offer tax refunds, or the specific conditions (minimum purchase amount, accepted payment methods, and so on), on their official pages. When touring multiple stores in Seongsu, ask about tax refund availability when you enter or before checkout. That way you won't be caught off guard later if the conditions don't match.

Access around Seongsu Station and how to plan a route

Seongsu Station is on Subway Line 2, and different stores cluster around each exit. PURE Pharmacy Seongsu is near Exit 3, and the address, 3 Seongsuiro 20-gil, is the landmark to look for. Around Exit 4 of Seongsu Station, by contrast, there is an area where other large stores and flagship stores cluster. Planning your route by exit cuts down on travel time.

Seongsu is an area where many shoppers walk between multiple stores. Since a pharmacist consultation to choose pharmacy cosmetics can take time, stopping at PURE Pharmacy Seongsu first and visiting other stores afterward makes it easier to allow enough time for the consultation.

Some stores in Seongsu close on Mondays or public holidays. Since some stores won't be open depending on the day you visit, planning more than one destination helps you make full use of a day of shopping in Seongsu.

Olive Young N Seongsu is a large, multi brand flagship run by CJ Olive Young, located inside the Factorial Seongsu building in Seongsu-dong 2-ga, Seongdong District, near Exit 4 of Seongsu Station. Its hours are listed as 10:00 to 22:00 (secondary source, confirmed September 4, 2026), but no explicit mention of tax refund support has been confirmed. Amore Seongsu is a facility carrying around 30 Amorepacific Group brands, located at 7 Achasan-ro 11-gil, Seongdong District. It is open 10:30 to 20:30 and closed Mondays. A third party site lists it as a Tax Refund Shop, but media reports differ on whether in store sales are actually offered. Lady Young Pharmacy Seongsu (레디영약국 성수점) is another pharmacy, located on the first floor at 47 Seongsuilo 6-gil, Seongdong District. A travel comparison site lists its hours as 10:00 to 23:00, with in store tax refunds and multilingual staff, but this hasn't been verified against the pharmacy's own official announcements or map services. The AMUSE Seongsu flagship "Pink House" is a single brand vegan makeup flagship at 10-2 Yeonmujang-gil, Seongdong District, with hours of 11:00 to 20:30 per travel media, carrying only its own brand. The dasique Seongsu flagship is a single brand makeup flagship at 6 Yeonmujang 5-gil, Seongdong District, which also houses the perfume brand After Blow in its basement level. Sources differ on its hours: one lists 11:00 to 20:00, while another lists weekdays 11:00 to 20:30 and weekends until 21:00.

Sources: Herald Economy, "Olive Young N Seongsu Rapidly Emerges as a 'K-Beauty Hub'", ktriptips "AMORE Seongsu" store page, ditoday "Amore Seongsu" feature article, Creatrip "Lady Young Pharmacy Seongsu" store page, Dailypharm, "Lady Young Pharmacy Expands into Busan", PR TIMES "AMUSE Seongsu Flagship" press release, sidae.com "AMUSE Pink House" article, heypop "dasique Seongsu Flagship Store", fashionsnap.com "dasique new store"