Overseas Koreans Take One Billion Dollars With Them Abroad

Overseas Koreans who left their properties in Korea have taken $950 million in property value from Korea over the last year alone.

According to administration inspection documents handed in by the Bank of Korea on October 10, the “Property Transference Amount of Overseas Koreans” has doubled from $250 million in 2001 to $540 million in 2002. In addition, there was a 75 percent increase last year compared to 2002, totaling 950 million won.

In addition, $640 million in property value has already exited the country in the first half of this year, a 36 percent increase from 470 million over the same period last year.

The transference amount of overseas Koreans refers to the funds that emigrants take out of the country, except the amount that they carried out when they were emigrating, after clearing up and cashing in their properties left behind in the country later.

The funds emigrants take out at the time of the emigration, called “Overseas Relocation Funds,” have also increased by five percent to $230 million in the first half of the year. The overseas relocation funds had increased from $450 million in 2001 to $570 million in 2002, but decreased to $440 million last year.

The amount of the properties extracted and the overseas relocation funds added together are listed as “expenses” on capital transfer accounts, and have been on the increase, registering $710 million in 2001, $1,110 million in 2002, and $1.4 billion in 2003. The expenses in the capital transfer accounts for this year’s first half are $880 million so far.

Meanwhile, “earnings,” meaning the funds that foreigners bring into the country while immigrating, were $50 million last year and $30 million in the first half of this year.

Seung-Jin Kim sarafina@donga.com