Sales at local duty free stores hit a record high in 2018.<br />According to data from the Korea Duty Free Shops Association, at 17 billion U.S. dollars, it's up nearly 35 percent from the year before.<br />Industry analysts say it was thanks to Chinese nationals who buy duty-free products in Seoul to sell back home.<br />And this was despite Beijing restricting some travel to South Korea because of Seoul's deployment of the U.S. missile defense system THAAD. <br />
