Cosmetics company Charmzone said Thursday it was considering suing Incheon International Airport Corp. for a refund on a 10.2 billion won ($9 million) deposit it paid to run a duty-free store there.

The Maeil Business Newspaper quoted Charmzone chairman Kim Kwang-seok as saying, “We are seeking legal countermeasures rather than sit and watch our money disappearing.”

Kim was referring to the removal of Charmzone’s operational rights on Feb. 23 after the cosmetics-maker failed to pay a 27.7 billion won rent fee for a slot inside the airport, making the already-paid deposit technically non-refundable. 

Charmzone, most famous for its massage cream that is popular with middle-aged women, originally suggested paying 203.2 billion won for the right to run the duty-free shop for the next five years, making a deposit of 10.2 billion won on Feb. 11. The company won the slot allotted for medium-sized companies.

Charmzone attributed the failure to pay the rest to a lack of time to raise the rest of the money. But the airport authorities refused to extend the deadline, citing the need for equal treatment to Lotte, Shilla and Shinsegae, which have also won the rights and paid the money due in time.

“For a company with annual sales of 70 billion won, 10.2 billion won is huge. There have been court rulings allowing refunds in the past and we are hoping the same will happen to us,” a Charmzone insider said.

Charmzone, which sought to diversify its business through the duty-free store, seems to have learned a lesson after its misfortune with the airport that has the world’s largest sales volume.

“We will stick to what we are good at ― making cosmetics. We have no future plans for a duty-free business,” a Charmzone spokeswoman told The Korea Herald.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)