Claim: Shinsegae's flagship store is the country's largest department store.

Shinsegae -LRB- Korean : 신세계 , -RRB- is a South Korean department store franchise , along with several other businesses , headquartered in Seoul , South Korea . The name of Shinsegae literally means `` New World '' in Korean . Its flagship store in Centum City , Busan , is the world 's largest department store , surpassing Macy 's flagship Herald Square in New York City in 2009 .   Shinsegae was originally part of the Samsung Group chaebol , separated in the 1990s from the Samsung Group along with CJ Group -LRB- Food/Chemicals/Entertainment -RRB- , Saehan Group -LRB- Electronic Media/Apparel/Textiles -RRB- , and the Hansol Group -LRB- Paper/Telecom -RRB- . The chairman Lee Myung-hee is the daughter of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull and younger sister of the chairman of Samsung Electronics Lee Kun-hee .   The group owns the brands Shinsegae and E-Mart , and is in direct competition with Lotte Shopping and Hyundai Department Store Group . Currently it is the largest retailer in South Korea .   Shinsegae is also famous for its long history . The main branch of Shinsegae is the oldest department store in Korea . The main building of the store was opened in 1930 as the Gyeongseong branch of Mitsukoshi , a Japanese department store franchise ; Korea was occupied by the Japanese Empire at the time . The store was acquired in 1945 by the late founder of Samsung group , Lee Byung-chull , and renamed Donghwa Department Store . After the Korean War -LRB- 1950 -- 1953 -RRB- began , it was used for several years as a post exchange by the American army . In 1963 , the store was given the name Shinsegae . The old building is currently used as a luxury shopping venue .   Shinsegae was the first credit card company in South Korea . They issued its own charge card from 1967 to 2000 . In 2000 , Shinsegae sold its credit card division to KorAm Bank , which was later acquired by Citibank Korea .