Jeju denies barring Chinese investment
- By Chen Boyuan
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E-mail China.org.cn, January 4, 2015
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South Korean tourism resort Jeju Island. [Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn] |
"Only by capturing the hearts of Chinese people can Korean companies survive," a recent comment in South Korea's JoongAng Daily reads. However, in 2014, the fear that "Chinese capital is nibbling away at Korea" was frequently seen in the South Korean press.
South Korea's southern Jeju Island is home to many such voices. Jeju's provincial governor, Won Hee-ryong, pushed for a halt to Chinese investment in the island shortly after taking office in 2000, claiming that "no Chinese investors will be allowed to set foot on Hallasan," a symbolic name for the offshore province.
But in a recent interview with Chinese paper the Global Times, Won denied that recent measures to manage development had particularly targeted Chinese, while adding that more details for immigration-oriented investment on Jeju will be unveiled soon.
"It is not important where investments come from," said Won, who noted that foreign investment in South Korea is protected by the Special Law and that Jeju does not forbid the entrance of foreign capital.
Earlier reports claimed Won had deemed that current Chinese investment projects in Jeju amounted to so-called "speculative capital," fearing that these projects would result in an influx of Chinese settlers. He called off multiple Chinese-funded projects, including the Dream Tower backed by Greenland Holding Group and the History and Mythology Park contracted by Landing Investment Group.
Won did not clarify whether media reports had wrongly interpreted the provincial government's statements, but listed what he claimed were "hard facts" about how foreigners started to swarm the island amid heavy real estate investment. He said locals were worried whether land and property ownership would gradually be transferred to the hands of foreign investors, who are in turn likely to resell at much higher prices.
"But it is a fact that more land in Jeju is under Chinese names," Won said. According to official data from the Jeju provincial government, the amount of local land under Chinese ownership increased from 49,000 square meters at the end of 2010 to 7.169 million square meters as of the end of last September.
Among the investors, many are believed to be eyeing the long-term prospects of the popular tourism resort, but some merely came to seek short-term real estate gains and to take advantage of immigration-oriented investment.
The Jeju local government is reportedly amending the current immigration-oriented policy, which, outside of having investors purchase local development bonds, will limit overseas investments to tourism resorts.
By contrast, Seoul is adopting a much looser policy toward Chinese investment. An official at the capital's city hall said Seoul pays great attention to attracting investment from China, and the city's government welcomes more major Chinese firms open branches in Seoul.
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