Samil PwC is making a string of senior hires to beef up its commercial real estate advisory business, in a move that goes beyond routine headcount growth and signals a strategic push into leasing advisory—traditionally a weak spot for Big Four accounting firms.

Market watchers say the wave of hires could trigger broader talent movements across the sector.

According to industry sources on the 15th, Samil PwC recently brought on Sung-jin Park, former vice president at CBRE Korea, as a partner. The firm also hired Cheol-min Lee, formerly head of development at Sampyo Industry, as a partner, and Jong-yoon Noh, previously with Rsquare and CBRE Korea, as managing director.

Samil PwC is expected to continue expanding its bench with additional specialists to significantly scale up its corporate real estate advisory solutions.

Historically, Samil PwC has been viewed as weaker in commercial real estate advisory than rivals such as Deloitte and Samjong KPMG.

While competitors have broadened capabilities across acquisition & disposition (A&D), senior housing, and development-site financing, Samil PwC’s market presence in these areas has drawn fewer headlines.

That quiet period appears to be over. A series of aggressive hires has quickly raised Samil PwC’s profile. Notably, the lineup points to a plan to deliver end-to-end advisory that explicitly includes leasing—a segment where the Big Four have often been perceived as less competitive due to potential conflicts of interest with large audit clients who are also major leasing counterparties. Leasing advisory has therefore tended to be the domain of specialist real estate firms.

Partner Sung-jin Park built a two-decade career at CBRE Korea centered on office leasing advisory and is widely credited with helping establish and advance a dedicated corporate-client service model in Korea’s commercial real estate advisory market.

Jong-yoon Noh is likewise regarded as a leading leasing expert, with experience at Rsquare and CBRE Korea.

On the development side, Partner Cheol-min Lee is expected to lead advisory after successfully steering the large-scale mixed-use redevelopment of the Sampyo Remicon site in Seongsu-dong.

A former head of CBRE Korea’s consulting division, Lee later moved to Sampyo and led pre-negotiations with the Seoul Metropolitan Government that achieved a four-tier upzoning—from Type 1 residential to commercial—on the site.

His experience orchestrating complex negotiations between developers and local authorities is seen as a core asset for Samil PwC as it strengthens its development advisory capabilities.

In effect, Samil PwC has established two major pillars—development advisory (Lee) and leasing advisory (Noh)—anchored by Park as partner. Coincidentally, all three have CBRE Korea on their résumés.

The market expects Samil PwC to add an executive-level specialist to lead acquisition & disposition (A&D) advisory, rounding out a full-service platform. The newly hired key figures are also understood to be preparing to recruit the execution teams needed to scale delivery—potentially 30 or more professionals.

For a domestic accounting firm, the scale of investment is rare and could put Samil PwC in direct competition with large real estate services companies. The move suggests Samil PwC views real estate advisory not as an adjunct but as a core business pillar.

As a result, industry participants anticipate a domino effect of talent moves from existing players engaged in commercial real estate advisory. The market will be watching closely to see how Samil PwC’s build-out reshapes competitive dynamics.