Korean Air to secure W557.8b in property sale

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's national flag carrier, said Thursday it will secure 557.8 billion won ($470 million) through a property sale as part of its efforts to improve its financial status amid a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

On Friday, Korean Air will sign a deal to sell its land and building at Songhyeon-dong in central Seoul to the public housing developer Korea Land & Housing Corp., the company said in a regulatory filing.

LH will exchange the Songhyeon-dong site with real estate of the Seoul Medical Center, which is owned by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, it said. 

The asset sale is expected to help relieve the country's biggest carrier's financial difficulties due to the pandemic.   

In February last year, Korean Air announced its plans to sell its idle property in Seoul and non-core assets amid growing uncertainties in the pandemic-hit airline industry.  

Korean Air purchased the Songhyeon-dong site from Samsung Life Insurance Co. in 2009 and planned to develop a cultural complex. 

But the development project faced multiple hurdles, such as building height restrictions and cultural asset preservation rules, as the land is located near the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae and Gyeongbok Palace, one of the country's most valuable cultural assets. (Yonhap)