Just a Bronze Medal Secures a New Apartment? Winning Without Competition

[Anchor]

The inappropriate behavior of some athletes who received military service exemptions for their medals at the previous Asian Games has fueled controversy over special military service benefits. However, apart from the military service benefits granted for winning an Olympic bronze medal or higher, or an Asian Games gold medal, there is another benefit for elite athletes: special housing allocations for apartments. Known as the special allocation for elite athletes, its scope of eligibility is much broader than that of military service exemptions. Athletes can secure special allocation points just by finishing within 6th place in the Olympics, or even by winning a bronze medal in the Asian Games and the CISM World Military Games. Over the past five years, a total of 72 athletes have been allocated apartments through this system, which has been confirmed to include seven cases where individuals secured allocations solely with bronze medals from the Asian Games and the Universiade.

Reporter Kim Kwan-jin has this exclusive report.

[Reporter]

A newly built apartment complex in Incheon.

During its pre-sale in 2021, the first-priority general subscription drew approximately 31,000 applicants, recording a competition rate of 43 to 1.

However, the situation was different for the special allocation for elite athletes, where medal-winning athletes from international sporting events competed exclusively among themselves.

Winners are determined based on accumulated points—such as 90 points for an Olympic gold medal, 2 points for a 6th-place finish, 10 points for a gold medal in the Asian Games, Universiade, or CISM World Military Games, and 1 point for a bronze medal. In this apartment complex, it was confirmed that 9 applicants applied for 10 special allocation units, securing them all without any competition.

In particular, two of the successful applicants earned their special allocations based solely on the record of having won a single Asian Games bronze medal.

Similar cases have been identified at other apartment complexes.

At this apartment complex currently under construction with scheduled occupancy next year, two athletes who won a single Asian Games bronze medal were recommended for special allocations without competition.

These are internal documents from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee obtained by SBS.

Over the past five years or so, 72 current and former athletes received apartments through special allocations across 43 apartment complexes where the special allocation program for elite athletes was implemented.

The competition rate for these special allocations was 1 to 1 or lower in more than half of the cases, and 56 percent of the athletes who won allocations did so with scores that included their Asian Games performances.

There were also seven cases where applicants won allocations with just a single bronze medal from the Asian Games or the Universiade, which translates to the lowest score of 1 point.

At a large, newly built apartment complex in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, where a 39-square-meter unit traded for 1.85 billion won this year, seven athletes received apartments through special allocations.

(Photo: Park Jin-ho, Kang Si-woo | Video Editing: Won Hyung-hee | Design: Kim Han-gil | Data provided by the office of lawmaker Chang Kyung-tae of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee)

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[Anchor]

Reporter Kim, I actually hadn't heard of this elite athlete special allocation system myself, and I imagine many people might not know it exists. How does this actually work in practice?


Q. The 'Special Allocation for Elite Athletes' System?

[Reporter Kim Kwan-jin: When apartments are put up for pre-sale, institutional recommendation special allocations for persons of national merit or people with disabilities are typically included, accounting for about 10 percent of the total supply. Detailed requirements are determined through consultations between the suppliers and local governments, and this special allocation quota includes slots for elite athletes. First, applicants must meet the requirement of not owning a home. Winners are chosen when the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee selects athletes in descending order of their accumulated points from past athletic competition performances. This year's special allocations are currently underway as well. When we examined all the quotas announced by the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee for this year, we found that there were over 60 eligible candidates.]

Q. Which Competitions Count Toward Points?

[Reporter Kim Kwan-jin: This system was introduced in 1983 to support the housing of athletes who brought prestige to the country by achieving success in international competitions. In the past, winning medals in international competitions was much more difficult than it is now. Therefore, points were awarded even for finishing up to 6th place in the Olympics. In the case of world championships, points are recognized for podium finishes up to 3rd place in competitions held on a four-year cycle, as well as those on one-year and two-to-three-year cycles. The Asian Games, the Universiade, and the CISM World Military Games are also included.]

Q. Criticisms of 'Excessive Privileges'?

[Reporter Kim Kwan-jin: The competitions that count toward points also include the Paralympic Games and the World Paralympic Championships. Furthermore, it is difficult to say that the share of special allocations for athletes is particularly large within total housing supplies. However, as the status of professional sports has grown, there are now more high-earning athletes than in the past, leading to criticisms asking whether it is appropriate to grant all these privileges simply by requiring applicants to be homeowners without separate income or asset criteria. Moreover, for ordinary citizens, competition rates for apartment pre-sales these days are extremely high. Among the cases we investigated through a full census, an apartment complex in Sejong City recorded a first-priority general supply competition rate of over 3,500 to 1, whereas the special allocation for elite athletes had two applicants for a single opening, resulting in a 2 to 1 ratio. Voices are growing louder that it has become time to comprehensively review the system as a whole, including which competition rankings should be recognized and how long past medal records should remain valid.]
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.