S. Korea's assets rise two-fold on higher land prices

SEOUL, Nov. 26 (Yonhap) -- The value of land, buildings, equipment and other tangible assets in South Korea jumped two-fold over the last seven years thanks mainly to increased real estate prices, a government report showed Wednesday.

The country's total assets were worth 6,543 trillion won (US$4.42 trillion) as of
2007, up from 3,390 trillion won in 2000 and 6,021 trillion won a year earlier,
according to the report by the National Statistical Office (NSO).
The NSO attributed the sharp increase largely to a surge in land prices as
government-set land prices were raised to match market prices between 2002-2005.
According to the report, real estate made up 50.8 percent of the total value with
tangible fixed assets and inventory assets accounting for 40.1 percent and
slightly over 5 percent, respectively.
Individual citizens owned 45.4 percent of the total assets, while businesses and
the government held 35.8 percent and 18.8 percent each.
The service industry held 65.1 percent of the total, while manufacturing and
construction sectors trailed at 23.4 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively, the
report said.