On any given workday, you'll likely find Brent Koo on Naver, the South Korean equivalent of Google, checking out the latest news from Seoul, where he born and raised. It's all part of his job as a Newmark broker who moved to the U.S. about 25 years ago and specializes in working with clients from his native country.
Keeping up with the news cycle in a country nearly 6,000 miles from and 16 hours ahead of his home in the Los Angeles area is critical for his business, Koo said, especially now. That's because South Korea is negotiating with the United States on a trade deal before the Trump Administration moves forward with a threat to impose a 25% tariff on imported goods from the nation Aug. 1. His clients are watching closely, Koo said.
CoStar News caught up with Koo to talk about the new South Korean Advisory Group that he and fellow Newmark senior managing director Lex Yoo launched in April in the Los Angeles area after leaving CBRE.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
What is the crux of your group's business model?
Our goal has been to grow revenue by building long-term relationships with Korean companies. We do that by identifying their needs early. We want to be able to identify their needs before anybody else, whether it's setting up for their U.S. factory or relocation or even their small satellite office. With Newmark research, marketing and resources, we were confident we could grow our team here.
How did you and Lex come to focus on advising multinational occupiers and investors?
As Korean brokers based in L.A., we saw a growing need from Korean companies, both very large and small, for assistance, whether they were entering or expanding in the U.S market. They needed more than just a regular real estate support. They needed bilingual advisers who understand both Korean business and culture and the U.S. commercial real estate system. I have been working together with Lex for over 15 years. We've built strong relationships with current companies by helping them make informed decisions on their site selection, lead-seeding, purchasing and even facility planning. Our business naturally evolved into cross-border advisers.
With the U.S. threatening to impose a high tariff on goods imported from South Korea, are your clients concerned?
Yes, they're definitely revisiting their plans and strategies for the U.S., especially if the tariffs increase the cost of bringing their goods into the U.S. If the tariffs are imposed, then they will consider exploring local production, assembly or warehousing options to stay competitive. That also generates opportunities for us to find buildings for them. Globalization has been a major driver of growth in commercial real estate, especially for my clients in logistics and manufacturing. I think if these tariffs keep shifting suddenly, we'll see more companies try to shorten their supply chains or move their production closer to their customers. Some of our clients are already looking to move their production to the U.S.
How does Seoul’s skyline and commercial property market compare with Los Angeles'?
Seoul is a high-density, transit-oriented city where limited land has driven development upward — think clusters of mixed-use office towers in Gangnam and Yeouido that operate almost 24-7. By contrast, Los Angeles is far more horizontal: large industrial campuses, low-rise creative offices, and pockets of vertical growth — Downtown L.A., Century City — spread across a vast metro area. Deal velocity in Seoul is faster and more institutional, while Los Angeles offers greater land coverage, heavier industrial inventory and more value-add opportunities for repositioning.
What was the first commercial deal you executed?
Twelve years ago, I represented the buyer of a 20,000-square-foot industrial warehouse on Washington Boulevard in downtown L.A. The client initially purchased it for owner use. Today it’s a stabilized income-producing asset, and we [my client and I] remain close. That first deal is still the one I treasure most — it launched my career, cemented a long-term client relationship and reminds me why I love this business whenever the pace gets exhausting.