Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Recommends 2-Month Deferral of 'Shared Seawater Surface Occupation and Usage Fees' Payment Due to Prolonged COVID-19

A case of installing waterfront facilities on public waters.

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 26th that it has recommended local governments and local maritime affairs and fisheries offices, which are shared water surface management authorities, to postpone the notification of payment for shared water surface occupancy and usage fees for two months. This measure takes into account the overall difficulties in livelihood and economic conditions due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Those who wish to use shared water surfaces must obtain permission from the relevant shared water surface management authority in accordance with the "Act on the Management and Reclamation of Shared Water Surfaces," and pay occupancy and usage fees annually, which correspond to about 3% of the publicly announced land price of the land adjacent to the shared water surface. Currently, there are about 25,000 cases nationwide where shared water surface occupancy and usage fees are imposed, and the annual occupancy and usage fees amounted to approximately 31.7 billion KRW as of last year.

In cases where the shared water surface occupancy and usage permit period is one year or longer, the occupancy and usage fees corresponding to the period from the permit date to the first coming May 31 are collected for the first time. Thereafter, fees are collected annually based on June 1, and collection is to be done within three months from June 1. However, most shared water surface management authorities have customarily issued payment notifications in June, the first month of the statutory collection period.

Accordingly, considering the economic difficulties caused by COVID-19, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries sent official letters recommending each shared water surface management authority to utilize the three-month collection period to the fullest and allow a two-month postponement of the 2020 occupancy and usage fee payment notification until August, encouraging compliance.

Song Myung-dal, Director of Marine Environment Policy at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "As society as a whole is experiencing many difficulties due to COVID-19, we hope that extending the payment notification for shared water surface occupancy and usage fees will help alleviate the economic burden on shared water surface occupants and users, even if only a little."

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