Foreigners' land ownership in S. Korea up 0.5 pct in Q2

SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Yonhap) -- Foreigners' ownership of South Korean land edged up 0.5 percent in the second quarter from three months earlier, growing at a slower pace compared to before the 2008 global financial crisis, the land ministry said Monday.
   As of the end of June, foreigners owned a combined 226.52 square kilometers of land, 1.24 square kilometers more than in the first quarter, the Ministry of Land, Transportation and Maritime Affairs said. This is equal to 0.2 percent of the country's total land area of 100,214 square kilometers.
   Foreigners' land ownership has been growing at an average of 3.1 percent since 2008 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, down from 6.5 percent gains tallied in the 2002 through 2008 period. In the four years after 1998 when the country allowed foreigners to buy land, growth surged 38.3 percent annually.
   In terms of financial value, overseas investors' land ownership reached 32.48 trillion won (US$30.12 billion) as of the end of June, up 0.3 percent from the 32.38 trillion won reached three months earlier, according to the ministry.
   South Koreans with foreign nationalities accounted for 49.2 percent of the total foreign landowners, followed by corporate investors with 35.8 percent, the ministry said.
   The U.S. was the biggest investor representing 57.3 percent of the overseas ownership, trailed by European nations with 15.0 percent and Japan with 8.8 percent. Chinese investment in land reached 1.5 percent of the total.
   yonngong@yna.co.kr
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