April 20, 2024
Economy
Small group profits from land assets in Korea
[THE INVESTOR] Profits from land assets have gone to just a handful of companies and owners, official data showed on Oct. 20.
According to records provided by the Bank of Korea for the ongoing parliamentary audits, the value of private and corporate-held land came to 5,092.4 trillion won (US$4.49 trillion) as of last year. It marks an increase from 3,547.5 trillion won at the end of 2008.
Profits from real estate amounted to 183.8 trillion won as of 2015, equivalent to 11.7 percent of the nominal gross domestic product.
The profits went to select big owners, the latest findings showed. As of 2012, the top 1 percent of the private owners claimed 55.2 percent of the land. The top 10 percent owned 97.6 percent.
Among corporate owners, the top 1 percent owned 77 percent of the land, and the highest 10 percent claimed 93.8 percent. Rep. Kim Chung-woo, who had requested the records, said the data backs the argument for the revival of land ownership tax to help narrow the wealth gap.
By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)
