The share of land with a foreign owner in South Korea increased by 3% in 2019 compared to the previous year, the Ministry of Territory, Infrastructure and Transport announced on Thursday.
At the end of 2019, foreigners owned 248.7 square kilometers, just over four times the size of Manhattan or 0.2% of the total area of South Korea, the ministry said in a statement.
The value of land held by foreigners increased 2.9% to 30.78 billion won ($ 25.2 billion) during the cited period.
US nationals have dominated all nationalities over property, owning 52 percent of all foreign-owned land, he said. Chinese citizens came next with 7.8%, followed by Japanese with 7.5% and Europeans with 7.2%.
By region, the Gyeonggi province surrounding Seoul accounts for 17.7% of all foreign-owned land in Asia’s fourth largest economy, the ministry said.
Jeju’s southern resort island saw its share of land held by foreigners increase 0.7% year-over-year to 21.83 million square meters in 2019.
Journalist: Shawn
Translator: Shawn
Source: Yonhap
