Full Surveys of Public Property Every Five Years... Regularized Asset Management by Local Governments

[Financial News]  
A system will be introduced to conduct comprehensive surveys every five years of public property, including land and buildings, owned by local governments. Following a 2024–2025 pilot survey that compared local governments’ property registers with official real estate records and identified approximately 157,000 properties worth 20 trillion won, the regular comprehensive surveys will now be established in law.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) said on the 6th that the Cabinet had approved an amendment to the Public Property and Commodity Management Act.
Under the amendment, all public property owned and managed by local governments will be surveyed every five years. The surveys will identify omitted properties, bring unregistered assets up to date, and explore ways to use property that is not currently in use.
The state of public-property management by local governments will also be reviewed annually. The MOIS minister will be authorized to analyze and assess each local government’s management status and level, and to disclose the results to the public. The amendment also establishes a legal basis for designating specialized institutions to handle analysis and assessment, comprehensive surveys, and the compilation and verification of statistics.
An information system will also be established to consolidate public-property data that has been managed separately by individual local governments. The system will be linked with geospatial information and other data to help local governments determine the status of the property they own.
Procedures to support residents affected by disasters will also be streamlined. When usage fees or rental fees for public property are waived for disaster recovery or relief, the required deliberation by the Public Property Deliberation Committee and consent from the local council will be reduced. As a result, facilities owned by local governments can be used more quickly as temporary housing or for recovery and relief efforts when disasters occur.
MOIS plans to revise subordinate legislation, including enforcement decrees, in line with the legal amendment and establish detailed operating standards and support measures.
Yun Ho-jung, Minister of the Interior and Safety, said, "Just as the pilot project uncovered hidden assets worth 20 trillion won, data-driven, scientific management is key to public property. We will continue improving institutions and systems so that public property that has remained in blind spots can be systematically reorganized and actively used for the benefit of the people and local communities."

[email protected] Lee Bo-mi Reporter