Chiikawa Movie Popcorn Bucket ($21) and Seoul's Chiikawa Shop: How to Buy and Beat the Queue Before Your Trip

If you follow Korean Reels, you've probably seen it: fans hugging a round Chiikawa popcorn bucket, or a line of people snaking through a Seoul mall before sunrise. What those clips never tell you is how much the bucket costs, where you can actually buy it now, and how the waiting system at the Chiikawa store in Seoul works. We cross-checked CGV's announcements and multiple Korean news reports to put it all in one place, so you can plan before your Seoul trip. (As of October 21, 2026)

Photo: official CGV promotional image (published by Topstar News, Oct 16, 2026). The Korean labels read "Chiikawa", "Gareuma" (Korean fan nickname for Hachiware) and "Tokki" (rabbit, i.e. Usagi).

1. The short answer: the popcorn bucket, price and where to buy

• Price: ₩29,000 (about $21) each, in 3 designs: Chiikawa, Hachiware and Usagi. Reported size is roughly 24×18×22 cm.
• Rounds 1 and 2: sold on-site at selected CGV theaters. Both sold out.
• Round 3: October 16, 11:00 a.m., online pre-order only on "CGV STORE", CGV's shop on Naver (Korea's biggest portal). No in-theater sales, shipping extra. All 3 designs sold out the same day.
• Round 4: on October 16, CGV said it is "reviewing a 4th pre-order sale" and will announce it on the CGV event page. As of October 21, no date has been announced.

Round	How it was sold	Result
1st	On-site at selected theaters	Sold out
2nd	On-site at selected theaters	Sold out
3rd	Oct 16, 11 a.m., Naver CGV STORE online pre-order (shipping extra)	Sold out same day
4th	"Under review" per CGV, to be posted on the CGV event page	No date yet

Traveler reality check: since round 3 moved online, walking into a CGV theater won't get you a bucket right now. Online orders on Naver generally require a Korean Naver account and ship to a domestic address, so if you're only in Seoul for a few days, a delivery may not reach you before you fly out. If a 4th round is announced, check the sales method first. If it's online again, ask your hotel whether it can receive a parcel for you.

2. Why everyone in Korea is losing it over Chiikawa

Chiikawa is a comic by the Japanese artist Nagano, posted on X (formerly Twitter) since 2020, about small, soft creatures getting through a surprisingly tough world. In Korea, fans call it "Meonjakgwi", short for "something small and cute." The movie, Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of Mermaid Island, adapts the long "Siren" story arc. It opened in Korea on September 30, 2026, and was announced in both subtitled and Korean-dubbed versions.

According to the Korean Film Council's official box office tally:

• About 210,000 advance tickets sold
• 700,000 viewers in 6 days (736,044 as of Oct 5)
• 1 million on October 9, its 10th day
• About 1.85 million as of October 20, and still No. 1 at the box office on October 19 with 24,229 viewers that day

In Japan, where it opened in July 2026, it drew more than 9.6 million viewers and became the country's No. 1 film of 2026. And no, it's not just a kids' movie. CGV booking data shows the Korean audience is 69–72% women and 42–47% people in their 20s (figures vary by when they were counted). Grown-up fans with spending money explain why the merch keeps vanishing. On the Korean resale app Bungaejangteo, searches for "Chiikawa" in the first week of October were about 14 times those of early July. If you're into Korean character collabs, our Daiso x Toy Story 5 guide shows the same sell-out pattern.

3. Chiikawa Shop Yongsan: Seoul's only official store and its queue

Photo: Segye Ilbo news photo, Oct 8, 2026. The crowd outside IPARK Mall Yongsan.

Where it is

Chiikawa Shop Yongsan is Korea's first official permanent Chiikawa store. It sits inside "Dopamine Station," on the 3rd floor of the Living Park building at IPARK Mall Yongsan, Seoul. It opened in February 2026, with reservations only for its first two weeks. IPARK Mall connects directly to Yongsan Station (Seoul Subway Line 1 and a KTX hub), so it's easy to reach from most of Seoul. The mall has several buildings, though, so head straight for "Living Park." Hours at opening were listed as 10:30–22:00. That may have changed, so check IPARK Mall's hours before you go.

How the waiting numbers work

The store now runs an on-site waiting-number system. Putting news reports and visitor accounts together:

• At 7:30 a.m. on October 8, 200–300 people were already waiting
• According to visitor accounts, on-site registration opened around 6:30 a.m.
• People who arrived at midnight got numbers in the 380s; those on the first subway got the 700s
• A "today's waiting list is closed" sign went up during the morning
• Roughly 1,400–1,500 visitors a day

New-arrival days are another level. On October 7, when a Halloween costume-themed mascot line arrived, a line started at midnight and peaked at over 1,200 people, with a limit of 1 per person per item.

What they sell

Photo: Segye Ilbo news photo, Oct 8, 2026 (taken Oct 4). The "CHIIKAWA in KOREA" hanbok edition display.

Plushies, keyrings, magnets, pouches, mugs, stationery and clothing, plus Korea-flavored items you won't easily find elsewhere: a yut-nori board game set (a traditional Korean game) and Chiikawa plushies in hanbok, Korea's traditional dress. Movie tie-ins include bead straps and embroidered bags. For a Korea-only souvenir, this is the shelf to look at. Popular items get a "sold out" tag soon after they arrive. We couldn't find a reliable published price list, so we're not quoting prices.

4. Practical tips for visitors

• Go on a weekday, as early as you can, and avoid announced new-arrival days unless you're ready to queue from before dawn. The waiting list can close shortly after registration opens.
• Expect a 1-per-person limit on new-arrival days. If you're buying for friends back home, bring your travel buddies.
• For the popcorn bucket, keep an eye on the CGV app's "Event" page and the CGV STORE on Naver. Round 3 sold out on its opening day. Budget ₩29,000 (about $21) plus shipping.
• Be careful with resellers. Buckets are reselling above retail, and some store items go for 2–4 times retail on Korean secondhand apps. With a possible 4th round, think twice before paying a markup, and only use escrow ("safe payment") when buying secondhand or through proxy-shopping and proxy-queuing services, which have scam risks.
• Theater bonus gifts change weekly and are first-come, first-served. They run out early, so the earliest weekend showings give you the best chance. Check each theater's app notice, using a translation app if needed.

5. Still unconfirmed

These come up a lot online but haven't been confirmed by official sources or multiple reports:

• The date and method of a 4th popcorn bucket sale (CGV has only said it's "under review")
• Exact resale prices for the bucket
• Any payment-method restrictions at the Yongsan store
• The movie's running time, rating and whether there's a post-credits scene
• Prices and items for Chiikawa goods sold at Daiso and Alpha stationery stores (only the fact that they're sold has been reported)

Visiting Korea in November? Our Pepero Day 2026 limited-pack guide covers another big character-merch wave, with Sanrio and Ganadi.

Wrapping up

In short: the popcorn bucket is ₩29,000 (about $21) in 3 designs, it's sold online on Naver's CGV STORE since round 3, and a 4th round is only "under review". Chiikawa Shop Yongsan is a pre-dawn numbers game, but skipping new-arrival days makes it far easier. Save this for your Seoul trip, and if you've been, drop a comment with what time you arrived and what number you got. Spotted something that's changed? Let us know and we'll update it.

Sources: cross-checked reports from Edaily (Oct 20, 2026), Asia Economy (Oct 21), Topstar News (Oct 16), Vegan News, Jeju Transport Welfare News, Ilgan Sports (Oct 12), Supple, Newsis/Financial News (Oct 8), Segye Ilbo (Oct 8), TV Report and Popga Magazine, plus Korean Film Council box-office figures. Dollar amounts are rough estimates at about ₩1,400 per US$1. Sales schedules and store operations change often, so check official CGV and IPARK Mall notices before you go. (As of October 21, 2026)