[Anchor]

In the middle of Hongdae, Seoul, which is bustling with foreign tourists, South Korea's largest fashion platform has opened its first standalone cosmetics store. As the K-beauty craze intensifies, not only fashion companies but also convenience stores and grocery delivery platforms are jumping into the cosmetics market.

Reporter Jeong Seong-jin has the story.

[Reporter]

Even before opening, long lines formed in front of the store.

This is the first standalone beauty and cosmetics store opened near Hongdae in Seoul by the online fashion platform Musinsa.

[Kim Da-kyung / Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul: I heard the opening day promotions are the best, so I came to check out the discount rates and look around.]

The store highlights two main differentiators: personality-driven small indie brands making up 70 percent of its lineup, and "pharmacy beauty" done in collaboration with actual pharmacists.

[Park Jung-ah / Gangnam-gu, Seoul: I have high expectations that professional beauty products recommended by a pharmacist might be more effective.]

Behind the move of online fashion platforms to open offline cosmetics stores lies the rapidly growing K-beauty market.

Last year, cosmetics exports reached 11.4 billion dollars, surpassing the United States to rank second in the world.

Exports also reached 1.31 billion dollars last month, surging 52 percent from a year earlier to continue setting record-high levels.

Consumption of K-beauty products by foreign visitors to South Korea is also soaring.

As of August this year, one-third of CJ OliveYoung's offline sales came from foreigners, and cumulative purchases surpassed 1 trillion won, reaching the milestone three months faster than last year.

[Due Dream / Thai Tourist: South Korea is truly beautiful, and there are so many cosmetics. K-beauty products are very practical, and the colors are very cute and pretty.]

Other retail companies are also expanding their territories into the beauty market.

Kurly, which started as a fresh food delivery platform, is expanding its beauty business by leveraging its delivery strengths, while convenience store CU offers small-capacity, cost-effective products, and Daiso operates beauty corners centered on price competitiveness.

As K-beauty establishes itself as a new growth engine, the competition among retailers to capture consumers is becoming even more fierce.

Reported by Kang Dong-chul | Video by Choi Hye-young | Graphics by Seo Seung-hyun