PETALING JAYA (March 12): Regional mall 1 Utama Shopping Centre has soft launched the first Korean themed retail zone in Malaysia.

Dubbed District K, the four-level retail zone is located at the hip and trendy “1 Utama E” new extension of the mall in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. 1 Utama E focuses on sports tourism, entertainment and F&B offerings.

Spanning over 80,000 sq ft, District K features an authentic Korean street experience driven by the popularity of K-pop and K-drama. There will be a Korean artiste meet and greet viewing gallery, a performance and hologram theater, augmented entertainment, famous Korean restaurants, retail, skincare and beauty.

"With the constant change in consumer expectations and the rise of technology especially in gaming and entertainment offering experiential participation of players, shopping malls have to be agile and adaptive to stay ahead of the curve in these fast changing landscape. Within this scenario, malls constantly strive to offer new and different retailers and merchandise, F&B and entertainment in order to attract shoppers," said 1 Utama director and Malaysia Shopping Malls Association (PPK) president Tan Sri Teo Chiang Kok during a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony with four Korean retail brands as its tenants today.

"The soft launch of District K spearheads the goal to open up opportunities to Korean retailers in Malaysia and attract even more tourists," Teo added.

District K is targeted for completion by the end of this year with an investment value of RM120 million.

Meanwhile, PPK Malaysia signed an MoU with the Korean Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) to enhance mutual trade collaboration and co-operation between Korea and Malaysia to bring in new franchise opportunities of Korean companies to shopping malls in Malaysia.

KOTRA is the Korean government's trade investment and promotion agency in Kuala Lumpur under the purview of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy of South Korea. Kotra KL facilitates and fosters bilateral trade and investment relations between Korea and Malaysia.

Phase one of 1 Utama E opened early last year featuring two sports tourism activities namely FlowRider (a simulated wave generator featuring sheet wave technology designed in the US for flowboarding, bodyboarding and surfing); and AirRider (an indoor skydiving wind tunnel for simulated sky diving) that are the first of their kind in Malaysia.