Seen is the Saemangeum Seawall, the world's longest man-made dyke, constructed as part of the Saemangeum reclamation project in North Jeolla Province. Korea Times file

Korea plans to lower the barriers for foreign investment in Saemangeum, the 409-square-kilometer reclaimed land next to the West Sea, in a bid to spur investment.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency (SDIA) made a preannouncement of the legislation to revise the enforcement decree of the special act governing the Saemangeum development project. The revision is aimed at relaxing requirements for foreign companies to conduct business in the vast reclaimed tidal flat area of Buan, North Jeolla Province.

Currently, foreign firms must establish a local corporation in Korea to conduct business in Saemangeum. These local corporations have faced challenges in being selected as project operators due to requirements such as credit ratings, recent year equity capital and total sales.

Under the revision, the criteria will be adjusted to assess the credit rating and capital strength of parent companies investing in foreign firms' local corporations.

To address the rapidly increasing demand for building permits, the workforce of the architectural committee of the SDIA will also be expanded more than twofold.

Currently, the committee consists of 30 experts in the field of architecture, making it difficult to include specialists from various disciplines.

The revised proposal will increase the committee from 30 members to 70, and will include experts in urban planning, landscape and transportation.