This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 4:26 p.m. on Jul. 2, 2026.
Korea Post Insurance has begun preliminary work to purchase real estate, including post offices in central Seoul and training facilities. It is seen as an effort to set investment priorities by analyzing the potential for development into retail and office properties and the business feasibility of candidate asset for inclusion in insurance reserves.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 2nd, Korea Post Insurance will review the development potential of seven sites, including the Seongdong, Chungjeongno, Guro Digital Complex, and Munjeong-dong post offices in Seoul. The post office side recently distributed a request for proposals (RFP) to related firms such as real estate investment advisors and began selecting a service provider.
The acquisition review targets for Korea Post Insurance are a total of seven sites: five post offices in Seoul—Seoul Seongdong Post Office, Seoul Chungjeongno Post Office, Guro Digital Complex Post Office, Munjeong-dong Post Office, and Songcheon-dong Post Office—and the Gangneung Gyeongpodae Training Center and the Paju Unification Hill Training Center.
Some say that because the post office buildings would be purchased by Korea Post Insurance with insurance reserves, questions could arise over the appropriateness of an internal asset transaction. However, the industry says that because most of the sites are prime asset located in core areas of Seoul, if transactions occur at fair value, the investment rationale would be sufficient. Accordingly, the assessment is that price determination will be key in the process of incorporating the sites into the insurance account.
Many of these asset are sites located in major business and residential areas of Seoul. Seoul Chungjeongno Post Office is adjacent to the central business district (CBD), and Guro Digital Complex Post Office is in the core business area of G Valley. Munjeong-dong Post Office benefits from demand from the Munjeong Legal Town and Munjeong Biz Valley, and Seoul Seongdong Post Office also borders the Seongsu and Wangsimni living areas, making it an asset assessed to have high development potential.
This work is not a simple asset due diligence or valuation but is strongly aimed at comprehensively analyzing the development potential and investment value of candidate asset to be included in insurance reserves, to decide whether to acquire them in the future. The RFP also specifies that the advisor will review the feasibility of development projects to generate stable rental income and grow insurance reserves, and use the results as baseline data to determine the purchase priority of candidate asset.
The advisor will analyze the development environment and locational competitiveness of each site, supply and demand in nearby rental markets, and the possibility of district unit plan and floor area ratio increases. Based on this, it will prepare various development scenarios—such as retail and office facilities, officetels, and urban lifestyle housing—and compare and analyze building scale, project costs, expected rents, and business feasibility for each alternative.
It will also compare multiple utilization plans—such as full-site development, partial development, retail-only development, and mixed-use residential and retail development—to present the optimal plan, while also preparing future leasing strategies, retail MD plans, and vacancy minimization measures. Ultimately, it plans to comprehensively evaluate the business performance and marketability of each candidate site and propose acquisition and development priorities.
The industry views this engagement as preliminary work to flesh out Korea Post Insurance's real estate investment strategy. Recently, insurers have been increasing the share of core real estate investments in key domestic locations to secure long-term stable cash flows, while strengthening value-add strategies that raise asset values through development and remodeling rather than simple holding.