Bus House Proposed for Youth Housing Shortage Facing Heavy Backlash

[Anchor]

Amid growing housing instability among young people, Democratic Party lawmaker Hwang Hee has proposed the "Bus House" initiative—remodeling decommissioned buses into temporary living spaces for youth. Critics have sharply reacted, telling him not to treat young people like refugees and urging him to lead by example instead.

Reporter Son Hyeong-an has the details.

[Reporter]

This post was uploaded to social media this afternoon by lawmaker Hwang Hee, a three-term member of the Democratic Party and the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee who previously served as Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Noting that the Netherlands has supplied more than 10,000 households through "boat houses" remodeled from decommissioned or used ships, Hwang suggested exploring "bus houses" utilizing scrapped buses in South Korea.

The idea is to remodel discarded buses into residential spaces and provide them as short-term housing for young people.

He estimated that remodeling costs would be around 50 million won per vehicle, requiring only 500 billion won for 10,000 households, while suggesting that locations near university areas or subway stations be utilized.

He also added that they could be designed as "mobile bus houses" capable of driving themselves.

However, immediate criticism poured in on social media, with comments such as "Lead by example" and "Are young people refugees?" The People Power Party fired back, criticizing the proposal for turning young people into refugees on the streets.

[Park Chong-kwon / Senior Spokesperson, People Power Party: Show an example by having yourself and your family immediately move in as the first occupants of a bus house. Is this a measure for the youth?]

Even within the Democratic Party, criticism emerged pointing out that the proposal is unrealistic given the lack of idle spaces in urban areas and the logistical challenges of installing water and sewage facilities.

Amid the flood of criticism, Hwang deleted the social media post and uploaded a clarification stating that it was "merely at the idea stage to provide temporary living spaces until young people can secure proper housing" and that "it does not mean the government is pushing for such a policy." He soon deleted that post as well.

Shortly before, the Democratic Party issued an official statement saying, "This is the personal opinion of an individual lawmaker and has nothing to do with the party's official stance."

(Camera Reporter: Lee Seung-hwan, Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editor: Yu Mi-ra | Designer: Kim Ye-ji)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.