Japanese Tourism Corporation (JTC) won approval from local authorities to join the Korean secondary Kosdaq, making it the first Japanese IPO in Korea in six years.

JTC, founded in Beppu, Oita in 1994 and now based in Fukuoka, runs seven duty-free labels and 25 outlets across Japan. Korea-born Ku Chul-mo owns 83 percent stake in the company.

Its revenue comes mostly from group tourists from Korea and China. It reported an operating profit of 2.47 billion yen ($22.7 million) in 2016 on revenue of 550 billion yen. Its net income reached 1.4 billion yen during the same period.

JTC’s IPO will be in 10,575,900 shares, or 30 percent of 35,252,900 shares available on the Kosdaq.

By Cho Hee-young and Lee Ha-yeon

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