"Could My Family Have Inherited Land, Too?"... Man in His 60s Hits a 57,000-Pyeong Windfall After Visiting District Office

Forest land totaling 188,819 square meters found under late father's name
Free searches available through "Find Ancestral Land" service

A man in his 60s who visited a district office in Daegu to handle a civil complaint discovered, by chance after an employee told him about the service, land registered under his late father’s name totaling 57,000 pyeong.

File photo of forest land released by the Korea Forest Service. Unrelated to the land in Gunwi County, Daegu, mentioned in the article. Korea Forest Service

According to Daegu Dong-gu on October 29, Seo (65) recently visited the district office to resolve a cadastral-related complaint. While handling the matter, the employee in charge told him about the “Find Ancestral Land” service, a free administrative service that lets people check for land remaining in the name of an ancestor or themselves.

A search through the service found land in Gunwi County, Daegu, registered under the name of Seo’s late father. The land covers 188,819 square meters, or about 57,000 pyeong, and is reportedly worth at least 100 million won based on its officially assessed land value.

After discovering the unexpected asset, Seo expressed his gratitude to the district office, saying, “I found valuable property in my late father’s name that I didn’t know about.” In other words, he went to the office for an ordinary civil complaint and, after a brief suggestion from an employee, found tens of thousands of pyeong of land belonging to his late father.

A view of Daegu Dong-gu Office. Yonhap News

“Find Ancestral Land” is a free administrative service that allows people to search the land information system for land registered under the name of an ancestor or themselves that descendants may not have known about because of an unexpected accident or poor management of the estate.

Applications can be made at the cadastral department of a city, county, or district office. Those who meet certain requirements can also apply online through the National Spatial Information Integrated Platform.

Online searches are available for parents, spouses, and children who died on or after January 1, 2008, if the applicant’s inheritance relationship and the person’s death can be verified. To search for land belonging to someone who died before 2008, or if online access is difficult, applicants can visit the relevant city, county, or district office in person.

For in-person applications, a family-register certificate is required for people who died before January 1, 2008. For those who died on or after that date, documents verifying the inheritance relationship, such as a basic certificate and a family relations certificate, are required. Representatives applying on someone else’s behalf must bring a letter of authorization and a copy of their identification. Starting in 2026, online applications can be submitted without supporting documents, provided applicants consent to the joint use of administrative information.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.