S.Korean gov't to lift two-bottle limit on duty-free alcohol

South Korean government will lift the number restriction of duty-free alcohol bottles for inbound travelers and halve the patent fees to boost the domestic duty-free shop businesses. 

Choi Sang-mok, South Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Minister said on Monday that the government plans to remove the two-bottle restriction on duty-free liquor, allowing it to be brought in without limits under two liters and $400 per person. 

Currently, the South Korean government restricts duty-free allowance for inbound travelers to 800 dollars per person as well as duty-free purchase limit for alcohol to two bottles, each bottle one liter or under. 

The patent fee is a system that collects a percentage of sales to contribute to society. 

It's applied differently depending on the size of the duty-free store's sales. Duty-free shops with annual sales of 200 billion won ($137.6 billion) or less pay a fee of 0.1%, those with 200 billion won to 1 trillion won pay a fee of 0.5%, and those with 1 trillion won or more pay a fee of 1%. Duty-free shops operated by small and medium-sized enterprises pay 0.01%. 

Write to Kwang-Sik Lee at bumeran@hankyung.com