How to Read a Korean Property Register: 3 Records (2026)

Which three records should you read before buying?

The registry, the building register and the land-use confirmation. Each answers a different question, and no single one answers all three ^{[1] [4] [6]}.

Anyone may view the registry or get a certificate on paying the fee, at any registry office (Registration Act Art. 19) ^[1]. In practice, you do not need the seller's permission to read it, so read it before you discuss a deposit.

How do you read the registry (등기부등본)?

Read it in three parts. The Registration Act splits each record into a title section (표제부), an ownership section (갑구) and a section for other rights (을구) (Art. 15) ^[1].

“The registration record shall have a title section recording the description of the real estate, section 갑 recording matters on ownership, and section 을 recording matters on rights other than ownership.”

For land, the title section records the address, parcel number, land category (지목) and area (Art. 34). For a building, it records the address, type, structure and area, including annexes (Art. 40) ^[1].

In sections 갑구 and 을구, each entry states a rank number, purpose, filing date and number, cause and holder (Art. 48). For co-owners, the record states each share (Art. 48(4)) ^[1].

Rank decides priority. Within one section, the rank number decides; between sections, the filing number decides (Art. 4) ^[1]. For example, a mortgage in 을구 filed before a sale in 갑구 ranks ahead of it.

Section 갑구 can also show what the seller paid. For a reported sale, the registrar records the transaction price (Art. 68) ^[1].

Which registry entries are rural red flags?

Four matter most on a rural plot: a co-owned share (지분), a provisional registration (가등기), a maximum-amount mortgage (근저당) and a surface right (지상권) ^{[1] [3]}.

A provisional registration needs the most care. If its holder later completes the main registration, that registration takes the provisional rank (Art. 91) ^[1]. So it can rank ahead of a buyer who registered in between.

Also, a clean registry is not the whole story. A statutory surface right can arise when an auction leaves land and building with different owners (Civil Act Art. 366), and rights arising by law need no registration (Art. 187) ^[3].

So compare the owners on the land and building records. Where they differ, or where the building has no record at all, read the unregistered building guide first.

How do you read the building register (건축물대장)?

Check three things: that it exists, whether it carries a violation mark, and whether its area matches the site. The county keeps it to confirm a building's ownership, use and upkeep (Building Act Art. 38) ^[4].

Its contents are the building's description and its owners (Rules Art. 2) ^[5]. Annexes are written into the main building's register, not a separate one (Rules Art. 5) ^[5]. So a shed on site and missing here deserves a question.

Look above the page number on the first page. When a county issues a correction order, it must write "위반건축물" (violating building) there, with the date, the violation and the order in the changes section (Building Act Art. 79(4); Rules Art. 8) ^{[4] [5]}.

That mark is removed once the violation is fixed or becomes lawful, and the changes section records this (Rules Art. 8) ^[5]. So read the changes section too: it shows the history.

Floor plans are restricted. A plan view needs the owner's consent or a listed exception, such as a person hired by the owner to broker the building, with proof (Rules Art. 11(3)) ^[5]. Ask the seller to arrange it.

How do you read the land-use confirmation (토지이용계획확인서)?

It lists the zones and districts covering a parcel, and the limits on activity in them (Land Use Act Art. 10) ^[6]. It answers what you may do with the land, not who owns it.

It also shows whether the parcel is in a land-transaction permit zone (Decree Art. 9(4)) ^[7]. Other listed items include a Building Act road and disadvantaged farmland (영농여건불리농지) (Rule Art. 2(2)) ^[8].

The road item is the one rural buyers should look for first, because a building site must generally touch a road for at least 2 m (Building Act Art. 44) ^[4]. The landlocked land guide explains the rule.

However, read it as a starting point. It names the zones, and a county official can tell you what they mean for your plan. For example, ask whether the house you have in mind could be extended or rebuilt there.

What does the land category (지목) tell you?

The registered use of the parcel. The law sets 28 categories (Spatial Data Act Art. 67) ^[9], and both the land ledger and the registry title section record the category (Art. 71; Registration Act Art. 34) ^{[1] [9]}.

Rural buyers meet four often. 대 covers sites of permanent buildings such as homes; 전 is dry field; 답 is paddy; 임야 is forest and similar land (Decree Art. 58) ^[10].

However, a category does not settle whether land counts as farmland. The Farmland Act looks at actual use: land used for crops counts, whatever its legal category, with some exclusions (Art. 2) ^[11].

That matters because buying farmland generally needs a farmland acquisition certificate, with listed exceptions (Art. 8) ^[11]. See the farmland certificate guide before you buy any plot with a field on it.

How do you compare the three records?

Line up the same facts across the records. A mismatch in owner, area or structures is the signal to stop and ask, before any deposit.

1. Pull the land and building registry records from 인터넷등기소, and note every 갑구 and 을구 entry still in force ^{[1] [12]}.
2. Pull the building register from 정부24; check for the violation mark and read the changes section ^{[5] [13]}.
3. Pull the land-use confirmation from 토지이음; note each zone and any road or farmland item ^{[6] [14]}.
4. Compare owner, area and annexes across the records, then walk the site with the printouts in hand.
5. Take each mismatch to the county building department or a 법무사, and make any fix a condition of the sale.

These records are part of the eight checks in the rural house checklist. For a specific address, use address search, or browse rural listings.

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