The jump in foreign land ownership on Jeju was attributed to foreign investors’ growing interest in the island’s resort facilities and its projects to build large-scale tourism complexes. (image: Republic of Korea/flickr)
SEOUL, July 28 (Korea Bizwire) – Riding the tourism boom on Jeju, more than 1 percent of the island’s land has been sold to foreigners or foreign corporations.
According to the Jeju provincial government, as of June, 2015, a total of 20.78㎢ of land or 1.12 percent of the island’s total area was owned by foreigners.
As of March, the percentage of foreign ownership was only 0.9 percent or 16.63㎢. However, a foreign company based in the British Virgin Islands purchased the Ora tourism complex in Jeju City that covers 3.2㎢ of land, which boosted the foreign ownership total to over 1 percent.
The jump in foreign land ownership on Jeju was attributed to foreign investors’ growing interest in the island’s resort facilities and its projects to build large-scale tourism complexes.
By nationality, Chinese own 8.64㎢ of Jeju land, or a 41.6 percent share of the land owned by foreigners, followed by U.S. nationals with 4.13㎢ (19.9%).
An official from the Jeju provincial government said, “More than 90 percent of the land owned by Chinese is devoted to large-scale tourism complexes, golf courses and resort facilities. The data shows Jeju has attracted keen interest from Chinese investors as a promising investment destination.”
By John Choi (johnchoi@koreabizwire.com)
