The two types of procurement methods in the Republic of Korea depend on whether the ownership of infrastructure will be transferred to the central government or to a local government on the completion of a PPP project. The first type, known as revertible facilities, are build-operate-transfer (BOT), build-transfer-operate (BTO), and build-transfer-lease (BTL) projects. The second type, nonrevertible facilities, are for build-own-operate (BOO) projects. Procurement methods are divided into how concessionaires recover their investment. BTOs, BOTs, and BOOs allow concessionaires to directly collect fees from infrastructure users, while BTLs allow them to do this through the government. For the direct collection of user fees, PPP procurement methods are divided into whether concessionaires get them from management and operation rights (BTO) or from facility owners (BOT and BOO). The PPP Act also allows for other procurement methods. Solicited and unsolicited project proposals are used, and these are discussed later in the chapter for all three countries.
The PPP Act uses a positive list system for 57 types of infrastructure eligible for PPPs (Appendix A12.1). The Republic of Korea appears to have adopted this system for its ability to ensure predictability and legal stability by clearly stating the scope of the act's application for PPP projects. Here, the act grants concessionaires a special exemption from public law by fully recognizing them as the main agents for procuring infrastructure facilities. It also endows concessionaires with powerful rights, including acquisition rights to private land.