Ulsan City Became a 'Land Baron' Through Tenacious Search... Achieves Over 70 Billion KRW in 'City-Owned Property Recovery' This Year

Discovery of 200 National Land Parcels Along Ulsan Grand Park and Sports Park Arterial Roads

Plan to Complete Ownership Transfer to City Land by Year-End

Reduces Financial Burden of Land Purchase and Prevents Administrative Waste from Owners

Ulsan City Hall exterior view.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Ulsan City has acquired new land worth around 70 billion KRW. This is because public officials diligently discovered state-owned land that had not yet been transferred to the city. Ulsan City is expected to become even more of a ‘land-rich’ city going forward.

Ulsan City announced on the 6th that through the ‘City-Owned Property Recovery Project,’ it has identified state-owned land worth approximately 70 billion KRW along the main road between Ulsan Grand Park and Ulsan Sports Park and has either completed or is in the process of transferring ownership to city property.

Since June of last year, Ulsan City began ownership investigations, including sample surveys of ownership within completed urban planning facilities and reviewing official documents related to gratuitous acquisition. In November of last year, the target land was finalized, and after preparing negotiation documents, ownership of 111 parcels of land worth about 28 billion KRW was transferred to the city in March of this year.

The total discovered property amounts to 200 parcels valued at 70.1 billion KRW, consisting of ▲112 parcels (112,355㎡) worth 39 billion KRW for the Ulsan Grand Park development project, and ▲88 parcels (45,196㎡) worth 31.1 billion KRW along the main road of Ulsan Sports Park. These lands mainly include old waterways, roads, and forest areas.

By ownership, the parcels belong to the Ministry of Economy and Finance with 9 parcels (2,908㎡), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport with 182 parcels (147,106㎡), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries with 9 parcels (7,737㎡), among others.

Ulsan City plans to proceed with ownership transfer by the end of the year for the remaining 89 parcels, excluding the 111 parcels whose transfer was completed in March, after land subdivision and registry organization.

The ‘City-Owned Property Recovery’ project is aimed at reclaiming ownership of land that has been incorporated into public interest projects such as park construction and road development, where gratuitous acquisition, donation, or compensation has been completed but ownership has not yet been transferred to Ulsan City.

The recent transfer of ownership of state-owned land within Ulsan Grand Park and the main road of Ulsan Sports Park falls under cases where gratuitous acquisition was completed but ownership transfer was not.

In the past, the lack of computerized systems, unregistered ownership of state-owned land subject to negotiation, and unclear ownership boundaries between state-owned and city-owned land hindered smooth ownership transfer of gratuitously acquired state-owned land.

On March 26, Ulsan City held a ‘Task Force Team Plan Report Meeting for Recovering Untransferred City-Owned Property’ and is actively promoting the recovery of city-owned property.

Recovering city-owned property reduces unnecessary land acquisition costs by preventing mistaken purchases of land that should be acquired free of charge during new development projects.

It also helps prevent legal disputes related to ownership in advance, which is important for administrative stability.

Lee Hyung-woo, Director of the Administrative Support Bureau, stated, “This year, we will focus on the city-owned property recovery project to prevent administrative waste and financial burdens and to protect Ulsan City’s property rights.”