Foreign nationals now need gov't approval to buy land in border islands

By Lee Hyo-jin

Foreign nationals will now be required to obtain permission from local governments to purchase land in more than a dozen border island areas, including five islands in the West Sea near the inter-Korean border, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Wednesday.

The land ministry announced new measures that designate 17 key island regions within territorial waters as zones where foreign nationals must obtain approval for land purchases.

This decision comes in response to increasing calls to tighten restrictions on such transactions to reinforce territorial sovereignty.

The entire territories of five major islands in the West Sea, including Baengnyeong Island and Daecheong Island near the port city of Incheon, have been designated under the new measures due to their strategic importance to national security. These islands are just below the Northern Limit Line, which serves as the de facto maritime border between North and South Korea.

Several islands in the waters off the southern coast, including Geomun Island, Gageo Island and Habaek Island, were also designated.

Under the new rules, which take effect immediately, foreign nationals seeking to acquire land in these government-designated areas must obtain approval from local governments, such as city, county or district offices, before signing a land purchase contract.

Local governments will determine approval after consulting with relevant government bodies, including the Ministry of National Defense and the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

If a foreign national signs an agreement without obtaining the necessary approval, it will be considered invalid. The individual may also face penalties of up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won (approximately $14,000).

The new measures follow an amendment to the enforcement decree of the Act on Report on Real Estate Transactions in October 2023, which granted the defense ministry and the spy agency the authority to request land authorities to raise requirements for foreign nationals to obtain certain lands.

Based on this, the NIS gathered opinions from relevant government bodies and requested that the land ministry designate 17 border island areas as approval zones for security purposes.

The new measures represent the first significant action of this kind in a decade, following the classification of eight areas in 2014 that required foreign buyers to obtain government approval.