South Korea foreign ownership increased by 1.2% in first half of 2020

In the first half of 2020, foreign ownership of land in South Korea grew 1.2 percent

By the end of June, 251.6 square kilometres of land have been owned by foreigners, property size four times greater than Manhattan. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said that this constitutes 0.25 percent of South Korea’s total property area.

According to The Korea Herald, the statement by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport mentioned that over the quoted period, foreign ownership of land rose 1.4 percent to KRW31.21 trillion (USD28 billion).

US citizens held the most ownership, possessing 52.3 percent of total purchased land by foreigners. Followed next by the Chinese nationals at 7.9 percent, Japanese nationals at 7.3 percent, and Europeans at 7.2 percent.

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Gyeonggi Province, the neighbouring region to South Korea’s capital Seoul comprised 17.9 percent of all land owned by foreigners, said the ministry.

The ministry also added that Jeju island, South Korea’s largest island located in the South, noticed foreign-owned land surge by 8.7 percent on-year to 21.91 million square kilometres in the first half of 2020.