The International Costco That Was Once A Prison

Costco has come a long way since its first warehouse opened in Seattle in 1983. Since then, it has revolutionized bulk shopping, fought off (almost literally) the capitalistic vultures who sought to increase the price of its beloved (and cheap) food court hot dogs, and spread around the globe. In that international expansion, there have been some unusual stores that have popped up, but maybe no setting is more unusual than the Gocheok location in South Korea.

If you thought the 2006 film "Idiocracy" showed the most dystopian version of Costco, welcome to a store that sits in the remnants of a once-notorious jail. The Yeongdeungpo Prison, located in Seoul's Guro District, opened in 1949 and was a prominent correctional facility. It housed political prisoners, among others. One of the most famous events in the prison's history involved pro-democracy activist Park Jong-cheol, whose death by torture at the hands of anti-Communist police helped galvanize the 1987 June Uprising that brought about the end of the authoritarian regime of Chun Doo-hwan and the introduction of democracy to South Korea. A crucial figure in this was a Yeongdeungpo prisoner named Lee Bu-young, who was secretary general of the United People's Movement for Democracy and Unification. Guards informed him about the police's cover-up of Jong-cheol's death, information he relayed to outside activists, leading to an exposé that lit a fire under the nation.

The prison was closed in 2014 to be converted into a residential and commercial area. It was here that, many years later, Costco would enter the picture.

Costco's international expansion began in 1985, when it opened a location in Burnaby, British Columbia. After that success, it moved south of the border, opening its first Mexico location in 1992 — though not the Costco in Mexico that features a natural cenote. The company then expanded to the United Kingdom before, in 1994, it was ready to tackle the Asian marketplace with a flagship location in Seoul, South Korea.

The Gocheok branch of Costco opened in October 2022, making it the 18th of the 20 South Korean locations as of 2025. Situated in the hybrid residential-commercial complex that Yeongdeungpo Prison was converted into, it's the largest Costco in South Korea (though it remains smaller than Salt Lake City's record-holding location, which boasts an area of 235,000 square feet).

While it might not have Salt Lake's size, it does hold one advantage over the Beehive State branch: Costcos in Korea are allowed to serve alcohol samples. They also sell Korean specialties such as the distilled alcohol soju, prepared bulgogi, and beef seaweed soup.