"Hannam The Wheel," "Banpo-ter Zai": Young People's Furious Memes over "Drastic" Idea

Public backlash from young people is intensifying over Democratic Party lawmaker Hwang Hee's proposal to remodel retired buses and supply them as housing for young adults.

Criticism such as "We may not have a house, but we have our pride" and "Are young people homeless people or refugees?" has been accompanied by a flood of mocking content generated by AI.

The controversy stems from the so-called "bus house" proposed by lawmaker Hwang on the 7th.

The plan is to remodel discarded buses and provide them as short-term temporary residential spaces for young people near university areas.

The idea was inspired by "boat houses" in the Netherlands that utilize retired ships.

Hwang explained that remodeling a single bus costs about 50 million won, meaning that supplying 10,000 households would require a total of roughly 500 billion won, making it a realistic alternative for rapid housing supply.

However, as soon as the proposal was made public, backlash spread rapidly, centered around social media.

Criticism continued, with comments such as "You block all paths to loans, and now you're telling young people to live in a retired bus?" and "This is not a policy, this is mockery."

This backlash also spread to various satirical content utilizing AI, and a virtual vlog appeared on one social media platform with the premise of someone living in a retired-bus youth housing unit for six months.

The virtual resident in the video satirized the poor living conditions of the bus, saying, "It turns into a steam room in the summer and a freezer in the winter." The video recorded 230,000 views just two days after its release.


Virtual "bus real estate" parodying expensive apartments in Seoul also appeared.

Examples include "Hannam The Wheel" twisting "Hannam The Hill," "Acro Reverse Park" parodying "Acro River Park," and "Banpo-ter Zai" adapting "Banpo Xi."

AI-generated images of apartment buildings made by stacking retired buses layer upon layer also spread rapidly.

Criticism poured in from the political circles as well.

The People Power Party called it a "bizarre idea that mocks young people," while New Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok pointed out issues such as water and sewage connections, criticizing that living in a vehicle cannot be an alternative to housing.

As the backlash grew, the ruling party leadership also drew a line, and lawmaker Hwang deleted the related post and moved to contain the situation.

Hwang explained that it was a proposal made at the idea level, reviewing temporary residential spaces for young people placed in poor environments such as gowons (budget studio rooms).

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Seo Byeong-wook | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Source: Instagram @moson_365 | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.