Construction work on Apple Korea’s first flagship store in Seoul is set to be completed just before Christmas.

On a 1300sqm site in fashionable Sinsa-dong, the two-storey Apple Store will feature an exterior glass wall.

“The construction work that started in August is expected to be completed by December 23,” says a construction agency official, hinting at the opening being possibly early next year. The opening was delayed for about two months after Apple reportedly changed the building design at the last minute. Previously the firm had planned a five-storey building.

Apple last year signed a contract to use the site until February 2036, paying a lease deposit of KW4.84 billion (US$44 million).

While the brand has about signature stores in 22 countries, it has delayed opening in South Korea despite launching iPhone sales there in 2009 through telecom carriers and contract retailers.

Apple’s latest iPhone X, its first OLED smartphone, was released today in Korea with telecom carriers KT and SK Telecom receiving pre-orders a week ago. The first batch of 150,000 phones sold out in less than in five minutes.