Woongjin Freelife's cumulative advance payments have surpassed 3 trillion won. Advance payments are amounts collected from customers in exchange for future services such as funerals and travel, and are used as a measure of company size in the funeral service industry.
Woongjin Freelife announced on the 8th that according to its own calculations, advance payments exceeded 3 trillion won as of the end of last month. This is the first time a single funeral service company has surpassed 3 trillion won in advance payments. According to the Fair Trade Commission, as of January this year—about three months ago—Woongjin Freelife's advance payments stood at 2.9368 trillion won, while second-place Boram Sangjo had 1.6618 trillion won and Kyowon Life had 1.6783 trillion won, neither having yet exceeded 2 trillion won. Daemyung Station's advance payments were also at around 1.4594 trillion won.
Woongjin Freelife's rate of advance payment growth was particularly steep compared to competitors. After becoming the first in the industry to surpass 1 trillion won in advance payments in 2019, the company exceeded 2 trillion won in April 2023. It then added another 1 trillion won in just three years to break through 3 trillion won. Meanwhile, second-tier funeral service companies only managed to increase their advance payments by approximately 100 billion won each from their mid-1 trillion won levels in 2023.
Woongjin Freelife explained that the expansion was driven by the infrastructure of its 'Shilnakwon' funeral halls at 16 locations nationwide, its funeral protocol expertise, and recent service expansions including weddings and cruise travel. Woongjin Freelife made a strategic investment in WJ Noche & Co., a premium wedding and catering specialist, entering the wedding hall business. The company also launched the industry's first chartered cruise travel products and newly added healthcare services including blood sugar home care and senior monitoring.
Woongjin Freelife CEO Moon Ho-sang stated, "The 3 trillion won in advance payments represents both the weight of trust our customers have placed in us and the weight of our responsibility to deliver even greater value," adding, "We will leap forward as a total life care company that accompanies customers throughout their entire lives, going beyond funeral services, and we will definitely achieve our goal of becoming the dominant number-one life care company within three years."