Chiikawa (먼작귀) in Korea 2026: Yongsan Store Queue Guide, Sold-Out Cinema Goods, and How Not to Overpay

If you have seen a line of adults sitting on folding chairs outside a Seoul shopping mall at dawn, there is a good chance they were waiting for a plush toy the size of a bread roll. The character is Chiikawa (known in Korea as 먼작귀, meon-jak-gwi, short for “먼가 작고 귀여운 녀석”, roughly “some small, cute thing”), and this October it has become the country’s most intense shopping craze.

It is also a different kind of trend from the dessert and snack fads we have covered recently, such as the tteok dessert craze. This one is about collecting, and it is driven by people in their 20s and 30s rather than children. Here is what is happening, where to go as a visitor, and how to avoid the resale traps.

A note on timing: stock, queue rules and prices change daily. Figures below come from Korean press coverage between early and late October 2026, and the numbers differ slightly between outlets, so treat everything as a snapshot and check the official channels before you travel.

In this guide:

• What Is Chiikawa, and Why Is Korea Obsessed?
• The Movie That Lit the Fuse
• The Yongsan Chiikawa Store
• The Cinema Goods Frenzy
• Other Places to See and Buy Chiikawa
• How Not to Overpay
• Quick Reference
• Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Chiikawa, and Why Is Korea Obsessed?

Chiikawa began in 2020 as a Twitter (now X) comic by the Japanese illustrator Nagano. It follows a small, easily frightened creature and its friends (Hachiware, Usagi and others) as they take odd jobs, hunt monsters and generally struggle through life. The art is soft and round, but the stories are quietly anxious: jobs are precarious, money is tight and things go wrong.

Korean commentators point to that contrast as the reason it lands so hard with adult fans. Analysis in the business press links the series’ worries about work, competition and housing to the everyday pressures of young Korean adults. Shopper data fits the picture: according to the resale platform Bunjang, 72% of Chiikawa buyers in the first week of October were in their 20s and 30s. Korean media call this group kidults (키덜트), and they are now a force that moves retail.

The brand is not new here. A Chiikawa pop-up in December 2024 reportedly drew around 30,000 visitors in ten days, and an official store has followed. What changed this month is scale.

The Movie That Lit the Fuse

The trigger was Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of Mermaid Island (치이카와: 인어 섬의 비밀), released in Korea on 30 September 2026. Local reports say it:

• passed 1 million viewers within 10 days;
• topped the weekend box office for several weeks, taking roughly 42.7% of weekend revenue on 16 to 18 October;
• crossed 2 million admissions on 24 October, its 25th day, becoming the tenth film of 2026 in Korea to reach that mark.

Distributor Daewon Media confirmed the milestone, though outlets quote slightly different running totals, so check the latest figures if you need an exact number. Local coverage describes it as faster than The First Slam Dunk, another anime hit, took to reach 2 million.

What matters for a visitor is the knock-on effect. A hit film means limited merchandise at cinemas, restocks at stores and crowds in the places that sell it.

The Yongsan Chiikawa Store

The centre of the craze is the Chiikawa Shop at I’Park Mall in Yongsan, which Korean and English-language reports describe as the country’s only official Chiikawa store. It is on the 3rd floor of the Living Park section, connected to Yongsan Station (Line 1, Gyeongui-Jungang Line, KTX).

What to expect:

• Hours: about 10:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., according to fan guides. Confirm on the day.
• Queues: SBS reported hundreds of people waiting before the store opened. One October report cited 297 groups and an estimated 174-minute wait on the morning of 14 October, and said on-site waiting registration closed around lunchtime. Some fans camp overnight before restock days, such as 7 October.
• Reservation rules change. One fan site says the store runs on on-site waiting, while another blog says that on 22 to 25 October only customers with a Naver reservation were admitted. Both could be true at different times. Check the store’s official channels before you go.
• Prices (unofficial, vary by item): mascots roughly ₩21,000 to ₩33,000, plush toys around ₩43,500 to ₩46,500, and larger soft-vinyl figures around ₩92,000.

If you are in Seoul for a short trip, plan the visit for a weekday and arrive well before opening. Do not build a tight itinerary around getting in.

The Cinema Goods Frenzy

The second front is the movie theatres. Limited-edition merchandise released with the film, including a CGV popcorn bucket priced at ₩29,000, sold out within days. First and second batches of the bucket disappeared, and re-sales on secondhand platforms were reported at two to four times the retail price, with some reports citing listings of around ₩70,000. Some listings offered paid “open run” proxy buying, and a few limited keychains were reportedly listed at more than five times face value. One Korean report noted that Korea has no legal basis for restricting resale of ordinary goods like these.

Even the stock market noticed: a Korean business daily reported that a related distributor’s share price rose about 25% in the first two weeks of October.

For visitors, the practical lesson is simple. If you go to a cinema just for the merchandise, expect it to be gone. Giveaways that are first come, first served tend to sell out first.

Other Places to See and Buy Chiikawa

If the Yongsan queue is more than you want to take on:

• Gacha shops. Capsule-toy stores in Seoul stock Chiikawa lines, and some specialise in plush. Our gacha shops guide lists neighbourhoods worth checking.
• Variety and lifestyle stores. Korean reports say Chiikawa items have been appearing at general-goods retailers, and these sell out quickly. If you enjoy hunting for limited products, our guide to Daiso’s sold-out mania explains how Koreans track restocks.
• Pop-ups. Seoul’s pop-up calendar changes weekly, with Seongsu and Yongsan the usual hosts for character events. Pop-up listing sites such as Popga show current dates, but check the shop’s own Instagram for the final word.

How Not to Overpay

1. Buy from the store or the original retailer. Resale prices at several times face value are common right now.
2. Check prices at the shelf, not from blogs. Unofficial price lists are guides, not guarantees.
3. Be wary of proxy buyers and “open run” agents. The rules for what is legal to resell are loose, but a buyer abroad has little recourse if something goes wrong.
4. Look for the official tags. Counterfeit character goods are a standing problem with any viral IP, so avoid unmarked items from street vendors.
5. Do not queue overnight. It is rarely worth it, and Korean press has already questioned the open-run culture around launches like this.

Quick Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 먼작귀 mean? It is the Korean fan name for Chiikawa, short for “먼가 작고 귀여운 녀석”, which means roughly “some small, cute thing”.

Where is the Chiikawa store in Seoul? On the 3rd floor of the Living Park section of I’Park Mall, connected to Yongsan Station. Korean and English-language reports describe it as the only official Chiikawa store in Korea.

How long is the wait? It varies by day. One mid-October report cited an estimated wait of nearly three hours, and registration can close by lunchtime. Weekdays and early arrivals are the safest bets.

Do I need a reservation? Rules appear to change. Some sources describe on-site waiting and others a Naver reservation period in late October. Check the store’s official announcements.

Why are the popcorn buckets so expensive on resale sites? They were limited, sold out within days, and there is no legal restriction on reselling this kind of product in Korea. Retail was ₩29,000; resale listings were reported at several times that.

Is the craze going to last? Character booms in Korea tend to ebb once the film leaves cinemas and the restocks catch up with demand, but Chiikawa has a larger base than most. Expect the extreme queues to ease before the store’s popularity does.

Chiikawa is a reminder that in Korea a viral object does not have to be edible, expensive or even new. It just has to be small, limited and a little bit sad. If you want to see the craze up close, a weekday morning at Yongsan is the best place to do it.