[Anchor]

Following the Asian Games, controversy arose over military service exemptions due to inappropriate remarks and behavior by some athletes. In addition to military exemptions, however, elite athletes who compete in international sports events are also granted eligibility to receive apartment allotments through "special supply" rather than general subscriptions. The scope of eligibility is much broader, and over the past five years, a total of 72 people have won apartment allotments through this "medal special supply." Among them, seven cases were confirmed where athletes secured allotments solely with a bronze medal from the Asian Games or the Universiade.

Kim Kwan-jin reports for Morning Zoom-in.

[Reporter]

A newly built apartment complex in Incheon.

When applications opened in 2021, more than 31,000 applicants flocked to the first-tier general subscription, recording a competition rate of 43 to 1.

However, the situation was different for the "special supply for outstanding athletes," in which medalists from international sports competitions competed separately among themselves.

Under this system, winners are selected based on cumulative points—such as 90 points for an Olympic gold medal, 2 points for sixth place, 10 points for a gold medal at events like the Asian Games, Universiade, or Military World Games, and 1 point for a bronze medal. In the case of this apartment complex, nine people applied for 10 specially allocated units, and all of them were confirmed to have secured allotments without any competition.

Notably, two of the winners secured special supply allocations solely on the record of "one Asian Games bronze medal."

Similar cases have been identified at other apartment complexes as well.

At this apartment complex currently under construction and scheduled for move-in next year, two athletes who won a single Asian Games bronze medal were recommended for special supply without any competition.

This is based on internal documents from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee obtained by SBS.

Over approximately the past five years, 72 current and former athletes received allotments through special supply across 43 apartment complexes where the "special supply for outstanding athletes" was offered.

In more than half of the cases, the competition rate for the special supply was 1 to 1 or lower, and 56% of the winning athletes qualified with scores that included Asian Games achievements.

As many as seven athletes won allocations with just a single bronze medal from either the Asian Games or the Universiade—earning the lowest score of 1 point.

At a large-scale new apartment complex in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, where a 39-square-meter exclusive-area unit was traded for over 1.8 billion won this year, seven athletes received allotments through special supply.

(Video by Park Jin-ho and Kang Si-woo | Video Editing by Won Hyeong-hui | Graphics by Kim Han-gil | Data provided by the office of Rep. Jang Kyung-tae of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee)