Standards for Land Compensation and Loss Compensation in Public Works Projects — Business Loss, Farming Compensation, Request to Purchase Remaining Land

Procedure

1. 1. Inspect the land and goods protocols and raise objections

   When the project operator prepares the land protocol and goods protocol and makes them available for inspection, check the area, land category, state of use and any omitted obstacles (structures and other objects on the land) within the inspection period and raise an objection. Items missed at this stage are difficult to bring back in the later appraisal.

2. 2. Secure records of the current state

   Before the appraisal, photograph the current state, such as the inside and outside of buildings, signboards, warehouses and fences, and collect sales and lease materials that show the fact of business operation.

3. 3. Check the requirements for each compensation item

   Land is appraised on the basis of the officially assessed price of reference land, excluding development gains arising from the public works project concerned. For business loss, the business must have been operating continuously at a lawful place with human and physical facilities since before the date of public notice of project approval, etc. Farming compensation is based on 2 years of the average gross crop income per unit area of farm households in each province (do), and leave-of-absence compensation is based on 70% of average wages.

4. 4. Consultation and request to purchase remaining land

   The compensation amount is set as the arithmetic mean of the appraised values of 2 appraisal corporations (3 if the owner recommends one). If it is significantly difficult to use the remaining land for its previous purpose, you may request purchase of the remaining land no later than the project completion date.

5. 5. Objection after adjudication

   If consultation fails and an adjudication of expropriation is issued, you may file an objection with the Central Land Tribunal within 30 days from the date of receiving the authentic copy of the written adjudication. The deadline is short, so organize the issues as soon as the written adjudication arrives.

Required documents

• Notice of compensation plan, land protocol and goods protocol
• Certificate of registered matters for the land, land ledger, building register
• Photographs of the current state, list of obstacles
• Business loss: business registration certificate, sales records, lease contract
• Farming compensation: materials showing actual cultivation, such as the farmland ledger
• Authentic copy of the written adjudication of expropriation (when filing an objection after adjudication)

Fees

Fees for preparing compensation-related documents differ widely with the size of the matter and the stage (objection to the protocols, request to purchase remaining land, objection to the adjudication), so the industry also sets them case by case. We review the notice and the protocols and advise you on the fee after a consultation.

See fees and official charges for this service →

Legal basis and review date

• Act on Acquisition of and Compensation for Land for Public Works Projects, Article 15
• Act on Acquisition of and Compensation for Land for Public Works Projects, Article 67
• Act on Acquisition of and Compensation for Land for Public Works Projects, Article 68
• Act on Acquisition of and Compensation for Land for Public Works Projects, Article 70
• Act on Acquisition of and Compensation for Land for Public Works Projects, Article 74
• Act on Acquisition of and Compensation for Land for Public Works Projects, Article 83
• Enforcement Rule of the Act on Acquisition of and Compensation for Land for Public Works Projects, Article 45
• Enforcement Rule of the Act on Acquisition of and Compensation for Land for Public Works Projects, Article 48
• Enforcement Rule of the Act on Acquisition of and Compensation for Land for Public Works Projects, Article 51

Checked against the statutes on 2026-09-30

Statutes and public notices change, so each case needs to be checked individually. Statute titles are given in English for reference. The Korean statutes are the authoritative text.

Check these first

• Record the date each notice is received so that you do not miss the protocol inspection period or the 30-day deadline for objecting to the adjudication.

Frequently asked questions