Protests from young people are growing over a proposal by Democratic Party lawmaker Hwang Hee to convert retired buses into housing for young adults.

Criticism has flooded in, with comments such as "We may not have homes, but we have our pride," and "Are young people homeless people or refugees?" Along with these remarks, various AI-generated mock contents are pouring out.

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

The concept 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 "boathouses" 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 across social media.

Criticism continued, with reactions such as "You block off all loan paths and tell young people to live in retired buses?" and "This is not a policy, this is mockery."

This backlash also turned into various satirical contents using AI. On one social media platform, a virtual vlog appeared featuring a fictional resident living in a retired-bus youth housing unit for six months.

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


Fictional "bus real estate" parodying expensive high-rise apartments in Seoul has also appeared.

Examples include "Hannam the Wheel," a twist on "Hannam The Hill"; "Acro River's Park," a parody of "Acro River Park"; and "Ban-potter Zai," adapting "Banpo Zai."

AI-generated images of apartment buildings made by stacking retired buses layer upon layer quickly spread as well.

Criticism poured out from the political sphere too.

The People Power Party called it a "bizarre idea that mocks youth," while New Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok pointed out issues such as water supply and sewage connections, criticizing vehicle living as incapable of serving as a housing alternative.

As the blowback grew, the ruling party leadership also drew a line, and lawmaker Hwang deleted related posts and stepped in to manage the fallout.

Hwang explained that it was a proposal at the level of an idea to review temporary residential spaces for young people placed in poor environments such as gosiwon (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