Seoul city will increase the number of real estate agencies for foreigners to 220, the city government announced Friday.

Currently there are 175 real estate agencies in Seoul that are tested and certified by the city as “Global.”

Among these, 131 are speak English, 29 Japanese, eight speak both English and Japanese and five speak Chinese. 

These agencies are mainly clustered around Yongsan, Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa and Mapo areas, where the city’s foreign population tends to be denser.

The Seoul city administration said it will accept application letters from agencies wishing to be a part of the new 45 until the end of May.

Eligible real estate agencies must have more than one-year business record in Seoul city with no administrative disposition. The agency’s representative must also pass the city’s language test with a certain score.

Once selected, the new agencies will be promoted through websites that provide English language information to foreign residents such as the Seoul city global center (http://global.seoul.go.kr), English language website of Seoul city (http://www.seoul.go.kr) and the online Seoul real estate information page (http://land.seoul.go.kr), as well as through the Incheon International Airport, KOTRA and foreign governmental organizations stationed in Korea.

The list of current global real estate agencies in Seoul can be found at this link

http://english.seoul.go.kr/life-information/residence/housing/5-real-estate-agencies-for-foreigners/

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)