A Total of 188,466 Parcels... Up 20% in Four Years
Chinese Nationals Hold the Largest Share at 41.2%
The amount of land in South Korea owned by foreigners has increased by nearly 20% over the past four years.
According to data submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to Assemblywoman Kim Hee-jung of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, the number of land parcels owned by foreigners rose from 157,489 in 2020 to 188,466 in 2024, marking a 19.6% increase.
In terms of area, foreign-owned land expanded from 253.34 million square meters in 2020 to 267.9 million square meters in 2024. This is approximately 92 times the size of Yeouido (2.9 million square meters). The total official land value of foreign-owned land also increased from 3.14 trillion won in 2020 to 3.34 trillion won in 2024.
By nationality, Chinese nationals held the largest number of parcels, owning 77,714 parcels (41.2%), with a total area of 21.21 million square meters. Americans owned 62,733 parcels, but in terms of area, they held the largest share at 143.31 million square meters (53.4%).
By land use, parcels for apartment use were the most common at 51,738, followed by commercial land (13,059 parcels), single-family housing (12,482 parcels), leisure land (6,784 parcels), and factory sites (4,719 parcels).
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has been conducting targeted investigations into abnormal transactions in the process of foreign real estate acquisitions since 2022. In the 2022 special investigation into housing speculation, 314 out of 567 suspected illegal cases involved Chinese nationals. In the 2023 investigation related to land, 211 out of 528 cases involved Chinese nationals. In last year's investigation into housing, land, and officetels, Chinese nationals accounted for 192 out of 433 suspected illegal activities, the highest among all nationalities.
Assemblywoman Kim emphasized, "We must strengthen monitoring of foreign land transactions to prevent our territory from becoming a playground for speculative foreign capital," adding, "In addition to the designated permit zones for foreign land acquisition, it is necessary to expand the land permit system in principle to fundamentally block speculation."
Additionally, according to an analysis by Assemblyman Park Yong-gap of the Democratic Party of Korea, also a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, based on data from the Korea Real Estate Board, the number of foreign housing owners increased by 17,173 from 82,666 in the second half of 2022 to 99,839 in the second half of 2024. Notably, Chinese nationals accounted for nearly 70% of this increase, with 11,810 additional owners.
Furthermore, a comprehensive review of 2,899 housing financing plans submitted by foreigners since the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration revealed that 546 transactions (18.8%) involved high-priced homes worth 1.2 billion won or more. Among these, 89 transactions were for homes priced between 3 billion and 5 billion won, 22 transactions were between 5 billion and 10 billion won, and 5 transactions involved homes priced at 10 billion won or more.
High-priced home transactions in Seoul were concentrated in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu (28 transactions); Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu and Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu (19 transactions); Oksu-dong, Seongdong-gu (16 transactions); Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu (15 transactions); Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province (13 transactions); and Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu and Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu (12 transactions each).
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
