"No Home of My Own..." Chinese Nationals Sweeping Up Land and Real Estate in Korea

Yeo Hongseokjun "Mutual Reciprocity Between Both Countries Must Be Strengthened"

The amount of domestic real estate owned by Chinese nationals is steadily increasing.

On the 22nd, Hong Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party, analyzed the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's 'Foreign Land Status' and found that the land owned by Chinese nationals in South Korea was 72,180 parcels in the first half of last year. The scale of land ownership by Chinese nationals in South Korea, which was 24,035 parcels in 2016, increased to 50,559 parcels in 2019, 69,585 parcels in 2022, and surpassed 70,000 parcels in the first half of last year. This is more than a threefold increase over seven years.

The area of land owned by Chinese nationals in South Korea also increased. It grew from 16,094,213㎡ in 2016 to 20,818,319㎡ in the first half of last year. The publicly announced land price during the same period rose significantly from 2.0841 trillion won to 3.6933 trillion won.

The photo shows a densely populated apartment area in downtown Seoul as seen from Namsan, Jung-gu, Seoul on the 22nd. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The ownership of housing by Chinese nationals is also on the rise. The number of multi-family housing units owned by Chinese nationals, which was 43,058 units in December 2022, increased by 2,348 units to 45,406 units in June of last year.

As the number of apartments and properties owned by foreigners in South Korea increases, concerns have been raised that this could lead to price increases and undermine housing stability. Representative Hong stated, "Our citizens cannot own land in China, but Chinese nationals are increasing their ownership of our real estate," and added, "Measures such as strengthening the application of reciprocity are necessary."