Mixed messages from Jeju pose hurdles for investors

Won Hee-ryong, the governor of Jeju province in South Korea, had strong words to say about Chinese property investors during his election campaign earlier this year.

He criticized the "opportunistic capital" flowing from China into the local real estate market and warned that Chinese developers were intent on seizing land to turn it into a "Chinatown" that would intrude into local people's lives.

After Won's comfortable win in June, the island province at the southern tip of South Korea tightened its policies on foreign real estate investment and immigration, making it more difficult for Chinese real estate developers and investor immigrants to invest in the region.