Foreign land ownership rises in H1: report

SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Yonhap) -- Foreign land ownership in South Korea rose during the
first half of this year on increased property purchases, a report showed
Wednesday.

According to the report by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs,
foreigners held a total of 215.9 sq. km of land in South Korea during the
January-June period, up 2.6 percent from the end of last year.
The total land ownership is equivalent to around 36 percent of Seoul, the South
Korean capital, the report said. In terms of value, land held by foreigners is
estimated at 29.43 trillion won (US$24 billion), up 1.8 percent compared with the
end of last year.
Foreigners purchased 9.7 sq. km of land during the cited period, while selling
4.2 sq. km of land, the report showed.
Foreigners include foreign nationals, ethnic Koreans with foreign citizenship,
joint South Korean-foreign businesses and foreign-owned companies. Their combined
land ownership accounted for 0.2 percent of the nation's total mass.
Ethnic Koreans with foreign citizenship owned the largest amount, holding 47.5
percent of the total, followed by joint ventures and foreign entities with 37.2
percent and 9.8 percent, respectively, the report showed.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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