Can You Change Land Use on Forest Land After Installing and Removing Solar Panels?

The short answer: not anymore. Many people believe that installing solar panels on forest land (임야) and later removing them allows free reclassification of the land. That used to be true. But on December 4, 2018, a sweeping amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Forest Land Management Act permanently closed this loophole.

Before 2018: The Golden Formula

It was genuinely lucrative. Installing solar facilities on mountain land (산지/임야) came with two simultaneous benefits.

First, because it fell under full “forest land conversion permission” (산지전용허가), the land designation automatically changed from forest land (임야) → miscellaneous land (잡종지) after project completion. Second, the Alternative Forest Resource Creation Fee was 100% exempt. No tax, while land values skyrocketed.

One documented example from Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province: public land price went from 423 won/m² in 2009 to 50,000 won/m² in 2018 — roughly 118x in a decade. Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province saw similar jumps. Solar panels were simply the vehicle; land speculation was the real purpose.

December 2018 Onward: The Rules Completely Changed

The Korea Forest Service overhauled the Forest Land Management Act Enforcement Decree to eliminate speculative demand. The four core changes:

Category	Before Amendment	After Amendment
Permit Type	Forest land conversion permit	Temporary use permit
Land Designation Change	Allowed (forest → miscellaneous)	Prohibited
Usage Period	Unlimited	Maximum 20 years
Alternative Forest Resource Fee	100% exempt	Full payment required
Slope Criteria	Below 25 degrees	Below 15 degrees
Post-Use Treatment	Designation change finalizes	Mandatory restoration to original state

”Forest land conversion” and “temporary forest land use” are legally distinct. Conversion permanently changes the land’s purpose. Temporary use means borrow it, then give it back — plant trees, restore the forest. After 20 years of solar operation, full ecological restoration is required.

”What About Pre-2018 Installations?”

Operators who received forest land conversion permits before the 2018 amendment operate under different rules. For them, land designations were legally changed to miscellaneous land, and those changes are not subject to retroactive enforcement.

However, the December 2019 amendment to Article 37(2) of the Forest Land Management Act introduced mandatory regular safety inspections for solar facilities installed under temporary use permits. In April 2025, the re-inspection completion deadline was extended from 3 months to 6 months — acknowledging construction difficulty in rainy or freezing seasons. The regulatory trend is clear: tighter, not looser.

Where Did “Land Use Change Is Possible After Removal” Come From?

Three scenarios explain the confusion.

Scenario 1 — Outdated information circulating as current Old posts from solar investment communities and real estate forums from before 2018 describe the old rules as if they’re still valid. “Install solar, later get miscellaneous land status” was only accurate until December 3, 2018.

Scenario 2 — Confusing farmland (전·답) with forest land (임야) Agricultural land converted for solar panels does change designation to miscellaneous land through farmland conversion permits — and does not automatically revert after removal. These are different rules under different laws. Conflating the two generates false confidence about forest land.

Scenario 3 — Misreading the “5-year use change approval” clause The Forest Land Management Act requires use change approval if land used under a conversion permit is repurposed within 5 years of project completion. Some read this as “after 5 years, free reclassification is possible.” It is not — conditions must still be met even after 5 years.

Current Economics of Forest Land Solar

Three compounding constraints have fundamentally altered the profitability model:

Alternative Forest Resource Creation Fee: Mandatory legal surcharge on all forest land conversion/temporary use — non-refundable
Forest Restoration Deposit: Security deposit guaranteeing eventual restoration; recalculated annually for periods exceeding 1 year
REC Weight Reduction: Forest land solar was downgraded from weight 1.0 to 0.7 in 2018
Protected Forest Land Prohibition: Installation now permitted only on quasi-preserved forest land (준보전산지); fully protected zones are off-limits entirely

The old model: buy cheap protected forest land, convert it via solar to miscellaneous land, profit from land appreciation. The current model: buy more expensive quasi-preserved land, install under a 20-year temporary permit, pay full fees, then restore. The math is fundamentally different.

Summary

Since December 4, 2018, forest land solar installations fall under “temporary forest land use permits,” and land designation changes are entirely prohibited.
After the usage period ends (maximum 20 years), full ecological restoration is mandatory — removal alone does not create a new land designation.
Claims that “land use change is possible after solar removal” are either based on pre-2018 rules or stem from confusion with farmland regulations.

References

Korea Forest Service Press Release, “Forest Land Management Act Enforcement Decree Amendment Passes Cabinet Meeting,” November 26, 2018 (forest.go.kr)
Korea Forest Service, “Forest Land Management Act Enforcement Decree Amendment Pre-announcement,” August 1, 2018 (forest.go.kr)
Dong-A Ilbo, “Solar Installation Changes ‘Forest → Miscellaneous Land,’ Korea Forest Service: ‘Land Values Rising Sharply, Speculation Concerns’,” September 26, 2018
Korea Legal Information Center (EasyLaw), “Forest Land and Forest Land Conversion” (easylaw.go.kr)
Korea Legal Information Center (EasyLaw), “Post-Conversion Management — Use Change Approval” (easylaw.go.kr)
Ministry of Government Legislation Interpretation No. 334261 (Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy), July 21, 2022 (law.go.kr)
Gangwon Provincial Government, “Forest Land Conversion Q&A” (state.gwd.go.kr)
Marin13 Blog, “Core Costs of Mountain Land Solar — Alternative Forest Resource Fee vs. Forest Restoration Deposit,” October 19, 2025
Yonhap News Agency, “Solar Plant Site/Structure Re-inspection Period Extended from 3 to 6 Months,” April 21, 2025
NewsSC, “Solar Power Facilities on Forest Land Nearly ‘Impossible’” (newssc.co.kr)