Choi Young-hwan, Gwangju City Council Member, "Youth Housing Services Losing Their Essence"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Choi Young-hwan, a member of the Gwangju Metropolitan Council (Democratic Party of Korea, proportional representation), pointed out on the 1st during a 5-minute free speech, “The Gwangju youth housing service support project is losing its essence as the project progresses,” and said, “There is no reflection of the youth's opinions, and this project, which is detached from reality, needs to be reconsidered and promoted.”

The youth housing service support project started in 2017 in response to criticism that policies were insufficient compared to the increase in single-person households among local youth. The purpose was to support housing spaces for about 30 local youths with no or low income for a period of 1 to 3 years, reducing their housing cost burden.

However, since this project is a privately commissioned project, it should have obtained the consent of the city council, but it proceeded ignoring administrative procedures. In 2019, a 30-year-old dilapidated goshiwon (small lodging house) that received a safety inspection grade C (usable only after mandatory structural reinforcement) was selected as the project site, and the remodeling plan was changed to new construction.

The project, which originally aimed to support housing for 30 youths with 1.1 billion KRW, had 2.3 billion KRW of public funds invested by last year. It was recently reported that 1.168 billion KRW was refunded due to contract termination with the trustee.

Councilor Choi said, “The project intended to support youths in the blind spots of government support has changed into a project that no one can sympathize with, providing 2.7 billion KRW for 8 people,” and added, “It should become a policy that many youths can hope for, as originally planned.”

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