"Recent economic data show a recovery in exports, but sales at department stores and discount outlets have decreased," Trade Minister Paik Un-gyu said. during a meeting with local retailers. "Under the current circumstances, I hope Korea Sale FESTA will revitalize consumption and the local economy by drawing shoppers at home and abroad."

The upcoming festival is the third of its kind since the government initiated a shopping festival in 2015 as part of an effort to prop up the national economy which was then hit hard by a Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak.

This year's event is being held as the country's retail industry is struggling from a drop in the number of Chinese tourists after Beijing banned its tour agencies from selling package tours bound to South Korea in apparent retaliation over Seoul's deployment of a US anti-missile system.

Despite repeated assurances from Seoul and Washington that the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system is designed only to defend against North Korea, China has long voiced opposition to the deployment, arguing that it poses a threat to its own security interests.

The number of Chinese visitors plunged nearly 70 percent in July, marking the fifth straight month of decline. Chinese nationals accounted for nearly half of some 17 million foreigners who visited the country last year. (Yonhap)