The amount of land here owned by foreigners rose in the second quarter, largely on purchases of forestry and arable lands, the government said Wednesday.

The amount of South Korean land owned by foreign entities, including foreign-invested companies, came to 224.71 square kilometers as of the end of June, up 0.9 percent from the previous quarter, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

The amount represents only 0.2 percent of the country’s total area.

The number of real estate properties owned by foreigners also rose 2 percent on-quarter to 82,729, worth 33.5 trillion won ($29.9 billion) in the April-June period.

Foreign ownership of South Korean land grew steadily since the country opened its real estate market to foreign investors in 1998.

South Korean expatriates with foreign citizenship owned 57.1 percent of the total land owned by foreigners, up from 49.5 percent tallied in the previous quarter.

Foreign-invested South Korean companies had a 32-percent stake in the total amount of foreigner-owned land with genuine foreign companies and foreign individuals owning 6.8 percent and 3.9 percent of the total, respectively.

By nationality, companies or individuals originating from the United States formed the largest group of foreign land owners, accounting for 54.2 percent of total foreign land ownership here, followed by Europeans and Japanese with 10.5 percent and 8.5 percent, in that order.

By type, 59.2 percent of land owned by foreigners was either forest or farmland, with areas designated for factories representing 29.9 percent of the total, according to the ministry. (Yonhap News)