Tongyang Life Insurance said Wednesday that it intended to bid for ING Life Korea, heralding close competition with powerful investors such as Hanwha Life and Kyobo Life.

In its regulatory filing on the Korea Exchange, Tongyang Life clarified that it was “considering participating in the coming bidding to take over ING Life Korea, as part of our strategic viewpoint.”

The firm’s business policy on the mergers and acquisition market came several weeks after the nation’s No. 2 (Hanwha) and No. 3 (Kyobo) players in the life insurance sector also expressed their interest.

With Samsung Life maintaining dominance with 25 percent of the market in 2012, the three potential bidders saw their shares shrink with the entry of NH Nonghyup Life as a new stand-alone business.

Over the past two years, Hanwha, Kyobo and Tongyang saw their market shares drop from 13.4 percent, 13 percent and 4.3 percent to 12.5 percent, 11.3 percent and 4 percent, respectively.

ING Life Korea, the local unit of the Netherlands-based insurance giant, had been picked as one of the “big five” by taking a share of between 5 and 7 percent.

Should Tongyang win the bidding, it is expected to sharply narrow the gap with Hanwha and Kyobo. Otherwise, the insurer could sink to becoming a “minor player.”

About a year ago, Dutch ING Group recently publicized its strategy to sell its insurance operations in the Asia-Pacific region, citing global economic uncertainties.

The global financial firm has operations in seven Asian markets ― Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Thailand.

Though the management of KB Financial Group earlier expressed its intention to join the ING Life Korea bidding, its board members rejected the project in December 2012.

The KB Financial board argued that it was time to save up equity capital as the economic doldrums at home and abroad were likely to drag on.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)