Ikea to open its first Korean store this week after ruffling a few feathers

Seoul

GLOBAL furniture giant Ikea opens its first store in South Korea on Thursday, a much-anticipated market entry that has stumbled at a number of commercial and cultural hurdles along the way.

Expectations are high for the Swedish firm's 131,550 square-metre outlet in the city of Gwangmyeong, south of Seoul, especially among young, urban consumers.