Hanwha Hotels & Resorts, a division of South Korean conglomerate Hanwha, has acquired Paraspara Seoul, a distressed resort north of the capital for 30 billion Korean won ($21.73 million).
The Aug. 13 sale derived from a tragic fire at another hotel and a developer’s subsequent liquidation.
Paraspara Seoul is a luxury 334-room resort adjacent to Bukhansan National Park and Seoul. The property had debts of 390 billion Korean won, according to South Korean newspaper Korea JoongAng Daily.
The acquisition price is approximately a 92% discount. Hanwha intends to reposition the property into a new in-house luxury brand called ANTO that it announced on the same day.
The discount price, it added, included “a paid-in capital increase of 29.5 billion won. It is a condition for the succession of the existing Paraspara debt of KRW390 billion.”
Paraspara once had a market value of 600 billion Korean won ($434.5 million), according to South Korean news site Maeil Business Newspaper. Maeil added Hanwha secured a 100% stake in the resort from Bukhansan Resort, an affiliate of Samjeong Company and under the umbrella of the Lupentis Consortium.
Samjeong is no longer operating as a company. It did not survive repercussions following a deadly fire in February at another of its South Korean resorts in Busan. The fire, which killed six people, was at the construction site of the Banyan Tree Busan.
Following the fire, several senior management executives at Samjeong were arrested for “violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act” of which “55 violations were identified,” according to newspaper Chosun Biz.
Another Korean newspaper Alphabiz reported that shortly after the fire, the developers of the Busan hotel, “Samjeong Construction and Samjeong E&C … filed for corporate rehabilitation due to liquidity crises.”
Maeil reported another contractor has been selected for work on the destroyed property while criminal proceedings related to the fire continue.
A conglomerate with interests in clean energy, chemicals, technology, finance and retail, including hotels, Hanwha is one of the largest companies in South Korea. According to Forbes’ 2025 Global 2000 list, three of Hanwha's divisions in the country’s top 60. Its aerospace subsidiary has a market capitalization of $26.7 billion; its ocean-technology subsidiary has one of $19.2 billion, and its chemical subsidiary has one of $3.02 billion.
Hanwha's hotel division has another five luxury properties in South Korea, including the 319-room The Plaza Seoul Autograph Collection, and 644-room Hanwha Resort Seorak Sorano.
CoStar News Hotels contacted Hanwha Hotels & Resorts but had not received a response by press time.