Gosiwon No Longer Just for Exam Prep: Why Young People Are Moving In

[Anchor]

Lately, university students, office workers, and even foreigners have been flocking to gosiwon, small single-room living spaces. There are various reasons why young people in their 20s and 30s are turning to gosiwon these days, so let's hear about it directly.

[Reporter]

[Ryu Da-eun / Living in a gosiwon in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul for 1 year: The gosiwon I currently live in is about a 15-minute walk from my school. (Isn't the monthly rent a bit more expensive than you expected?) That's right. It's expensive. I looked into whether it would be better to live in a similar studio apartment instead of paying 500,000 won every month, but then the deposit would exceed 10 million won as a baseline, and maintenance fees would be included as well, which felt a bit burdensome. That's probably why I chose a gosiwon.]

[Eunseo / Living in a gosiwon in Seongdong-gu, Seoul for 3 months: I originally lived in Incheon, but since my academy starts very early in the morning, I felt burdened by the commuting distance, so I came up to Seoul. For the sake of getting a job, I chose and came to a gosiwon closest to the academy.]

In the past, shared-type gosiwon where individual rooms only had a bed and a desk while bathrooms, shower rooms, and kitchens were shared were common, but now there are quite a few studio-type gosiwon that include private bathrooms and shower rooms inside the rooms.

However, gosiwon used as residential facilities are not classified as housing under the Building Act, but rather as "multiple-dwelling living facilities," so the required installations and safety regulations also differ from regular housing.

Then on August 12, the government stepped forward to overhaul some of the building standards.

According to the amendment, under the rationale of "rationally improving certain building standards unrelated to safety," the desk requirement for each room was removed, and bathtubs, which could not be installed previously, were permitted.


The biggest reason is that it is difficult to view gosiwon solely as spaces for exams anymore.

[Eunseo / Living in a gosiwon in Seongdong-gu, Seoul for 3 months: What surprised me so much when I first came was that, when I thought of a gosiwon, I assumed there would be many people truly studying for state exams or coming before finding a job, but there were actually a lot of students in their early 20s who looked very young. Also, I heard that exchange students and international students, or public officials who stay temporarily for work while students leave during vacations, often use them.]

In a recently conducted housing survey, the reasons cited for living in a gosiwon included not only location and distance, but also cost-effectiveness, convenience, and independent space.

This means gosiwon are changing from spaces simply for studying into residential spaces for living affordably close to work and school.

Reflecting this reality, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport concluded that there is no longer a need to make desks mandatory.

Furthermore, as an increasing number of people choose gosiwon equipped with shower booths per room even if they pay a little more, the ministry viewed that there is a demand for sanitary facilities like bathtubs.

It has been two years since single-person households in South Korea surpassed the 10 million mark.

As the proportion of youth households living in non-housing spaces is also on an upward trend, this amendment to the gosiwon building standards is aimed at relaxing regulations created for study spaces and redefining gosiwon as residential spaces.

However, some concerns are also being raised that if gosiwon become upscale starting with the permission of bathtubs, prices might become even more expensive.

[Eunseo / Living in a gosiwon in Seongdong-gu, Seoul for 3 months: Let me show you my room slightly. This small window above the bed is all there is. So sunlight doesn't come in, and since it just connects to the hallway, ventilation and things like that don't work. There is a bigger price difference than expected between inner rooms without windows and outer rooms with windows. Since there is a price difference of around 50,000 to 100,000 won and students without much money live there, I think many end up choosing inner rooms.]

Ultimately, the core issue is the living environment.

While the number of people living in non-housing dwellings such as gosiwon that fall short of minimum housing standards is increasing, successive concerns have been raised that without fundamental improvements to the living environment, it only amounts to increasing spaces that look like homes but are not homes.


Even AI-generated images showing bathtubs crammed into narrow gosiwon rooms poured onto social media, sparking major controversy, and the government announced just 9 days after issuing the administrative notice that it would reconsider its stance.

While it is true that the quality of space is gradually improving as people flock to gosiwon, can this change truly resolve the housing problems of young people?
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.