According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) announced November 30 that foreign investment from the investment immigration system, a public utility project, has surpassed the KRW 20 billion level in just a year.

The investment immigration system grants residency (F-2) status to foreigners who have invested more than KRW 300-500 million in Korea and permanent residency (F-5) status if they have maintained their investment for five years.

The foreign investment, from the launch of the system last May to the end of 2013, was KRW 1.3 billion. There have been 45 cases of foreign investment in 2014, recording KRW 20.47 billion.

By nationality, Chinese investors accounted for the most, with 39 cases of foreign investment, followed by one each from the United States, Japan, Hong Kong, Syria, Iran and Russia.

"We have rolled out efforts to attract foreign investment, such as establishing an I2K-center (I2K: Investment Immigration to KOREA) at Incheon International Airport and designating a bank specializing in foreign investment. We expect the system will increase investment in public utilities by granting permanent residency status to a foreign investor if he or she invests more than KRW 1.5 billion in Korea and maintains the investment for more than five years," said an MOJ official.

dada@yna.co.kr

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