REB: Korea Real Estate Board

The project operator announces the overview of a public works project, the contents of the land record and material record, the time, method, and procedure of compensation, etc. in daily newspapers, and notifies the land owners and other related persons thereof, so that general persons may inspect them for 14 days or longer; and so that the land owners and other related persons may file objections to the contents of the records.

The head of the local government (si/gun/gu) where a public works project is being implemented may form a compensation committee of which not less than 1/3 of the members are land owners and/or related persons within 30 days of the expiration of the inspection period of the compensation plan; where, if a public works project has a project district area of not less than 100,000㎡ and not less than 50 land owners, the compensation committee shall be formed.

Compensation amount for the land included in a public works project is calculated as the arithmetic mean of the appraisal made by not less than 2 appraisal corporations, etc. (one selected by the project operator, one selected by the head of the relevant si/do, and one recommended by the owner of the land accounting for majority of the project district) under the Act on Appraisal and Certified Appraisers: Where, financial aid for resettlement, residential migration expenses, moving expenses, agricultural compensation amount, and grave-moving expenses, etc. are calculated in accordance with the provisions of the related laws.

The project operator sends compensation claimants’letters of request for discussion, including letters on the period, place and method of discussion, time, method, procedure and amount of compensation, and conclusion of agreements; concludes compensation agreements with the compensation claimants concerning the land needed for a public works project in accordance with the provisions of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Acquisition of and Compensation for Land, etc. for Public Works Projects; and then proceeds with the payment of compensation and the transfer of ownership, etc.

If discussions fail or become impossible, the project operator requests adjudication by the competent land tribunal. The land owners and other related persons may also ask the project operator to request adjudication.

The land expropriation system is a procedure whereby, if the implementation of a project proves difficult or the land for a public works project cannot be acquired due to failure of the discussion on compensation, the project operator compulsively acquires ownership via payment or deposit of compensation money until expropriation starting on the day after obtaining an expropriation adjudication from the adjudication agency.

The land tribunal announces the expropriation adjudication to the head of the relevant si/gun/gu for inspection, and requests appraisal by two appraisers for adjudication based on the arithmetic mean of the appraised amounts, and original copies of the adjudication are sent to the project operator, land owners, and other related persons.

The project operator pays compensation money to meet the adjudication (deposit if payment is impossible), and land ownership is transferred to the project operator.

In the event of an objection to the adjudication of the land tribunal, an objection may be made in writing (formal objection letter) to the central land tribunal (if adjudication is made by a regional land tribunal, through the regional land tribunal) within 30 days of receiving the original copy of the adjudication.

After the central land tribunal reviews the objection, determines the adjudicated compensation amount, and sends the original copy of the objection adjudication to the project operator, land owner, and other related persons, the project operator pays or deposits the compensation money by increments.

If a lawsuit is not filed within 60 days of receiving the original copy of the objection adjudication or if an objection adjudication is determined for other reasons, it is deemed that a final and conclusive judgment has been made under the Civil Procedure Act, that the original copy of the adjudication has the same effect as the original copy of the judgment having executory power, and the compensation procedure is terminated.