By Kim Jae-kyoung
Staff Reporter

The nation’s wealthy property holders possessed more than four-fifths of total individual properties at the end of last year, as a result of the escalation of asset polarization between the rich and the poor.

According to the latest data complied by the government, the upper 5 percent of real estate holders has 82.7 percent of the total individual properties measured at 57,218 square kilometers.

The figure represents an increase of 17.5 percentage points from 65.2 percent in 1986.

The upper 1 percent owns 29,467 square kilometers, equivalent to 51.5 percent of the total properties. It is 48.7 times the size of Seoul, measured at 605 square kilometers.

``Since the 1997-1998 currency crisis, the distribution of wealth has been deteriorating,’’ Korea Institute of Finance senior economist Park Jae-ha said.

``As a result, the polarization of assets and income has been intensified, making it possible for a small number of people to own most of the nation’s properties,’’ he added.

Another analyst said that the polarization is stimulated by the government-initiated series of land development plans that have made the whole nation a land of speculation.

The data also showed that minors, or those under the age of 20, owned 179 square kilometers, 21 times the size of Yoido, measured at around 8.4 square kilometers, while children under 10 possessed 42 square kilometers.

The polarization of land ownership is likely to affect the direction of the government’s real estate policy to be unveiled in late August.

On Wednesday, the government and the ruling Uri Party discussed plans to rein in real estate speculation and prevent the deepening polarization of property ownership at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan.

At the meeting, the ruling party and the government have agreed to take some drastic steps to cool down the market despite concerns that the moves may distort the supply-demand mechanism and place the market under the government’s thumb.

New anti-speculation measures are likely to include removing the lid on property holding tax increases for expensive houses. Currently, the National Tax Service can increase taxes on property holding by 50 percent, depending on the price hikes of the properties, but the ceiling will be removed or be raised considerably.

The measure targets some 100,000 households in southern Seoul and Kyonggi Province, the epicenter of the current real estate bubble.

kjk@koreatimes.co.kr