Seoul to Cut Red Tape for Foreigners Land Buying

South Korea plans to cut unnecessary administrative red tape complicating land purchase reporting

processes for foreigners, the government said Tuesday.

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said the Cabinet approved the revision that will be sent to the National Assembly for approval early next month. If the bill is approved by lawmakers, it will go into effect in six months.

The change calls for scrapping a current provision that requires non-South Korean citizens who buy land to submit a separate foreigner land acquisition form, in addition to the regular real estate transaction report submitted to local governments by South Korean nationals.

Once the revision takes effect, foreigners will only have to submit the single real estate transaction report.

"The streamlining will reduce the hassle of foreigners who currently have to write two separate forms detailing the same transaction," a ministry official was quoted as saying.

As of late last year, foreigners owned 198.2 square kilometers of land or roughly 0.2 percent of South Korea's total.