"Women Pay 165,000 Won Monthly Rent" Gender Discrimination Controversy Surrounds Women-Only Rental Apartments

Petitioner: "Denied Youth Housing Opportunity Because Male... Isn't This Gender Discrimination?"

Women-only rental apartment Dasom Village. Photo by Seongnam Urban Development Corporation·Yonhap News.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province is facing controversy as its rental apartments exclusively for unmarried women, operated for 16 years, are being claimed to be reverse discrimination against men.

Recently, a post titled "We urge the conversion of Seongnam ** Village's women-only rental apartments to co-ed" was uploaded on the Blue House's public petition board.

This petition specifically points to Dasom Village, which is operated under consignment by Seongnam Urban Development Corporation. Established in 2005 under the Seongnam City Women’s Apartment Operation Ordinance enacted in 1984, Dasom Village is a 200-unit apartment complex consisting of three buildings from basement level 2 to 15 floors above ground in Jungwon-gu, Seongnam City. The individual apartment area is 49㎡, and the facilities include a study room, gym, and underground parking lot.

The tenants are unmarried female workers employed by companies within Seongnam City. For a single-person household, the rental deposit is 2 million KRW with a monthly rent of 165,000 KRW; for a two-person household, the deposit is 1.5 million KRW per person with a monthly rent of 90,000 KRW. Through additional contract renewals, tenants can live there for up to 8 years.

Regarding this, the petitioner argued, "Considering the social context of the 1980s when the (Seongnam City Women’s Rental Apartment Operation) ordinance was created, it was a necessary policy to guarantee housing rights for female workers who were engaged in simple labor under poor conditions and low wages. However, the situation is different in 2021."

Photo by Blue House, screenshot of the National Petition Board.

He stated, "No longer are women prevented from attending university, forced to accept low wages, or assigned only simple labor because they are women. On the contrary, young men, who enter society about two years later than women due to mandatory military service, need compensatory measures, but such policies are shrinking under accusations of 'gender discrimination,'" he pointed out.

He continued, "What truly constitutes gender discrimination? Is it not gender discrimination to completely deny young men housing opportunities just because they are male, even though they live in the same area, work at the same jobs, and pay the same local taxes?"

Meanwhile, another petitioner in the petition titled "We urge the conversion of Seongnam ** Village to co-ed" also called for Dasom Village to be converted into a co-ed rental apartment so that both men and women can enjoy the benefits of youth housing.

The petitioner criticized, "The era when women were denied university admission or paid less is over." He added, "Male workers in Seongnam City should be guaranteed housing rights just like female workers," emphasizing, "We urge the prompt conversion of Seongnam ** Village to co-ed."

Netizens who saw the petition responded critically with comments such as, "The times have long changed; opportunities should be given fairly. Stop discriminating," "It's surprising that such apartments exist in 2021," and "Build rental apartments fairly for men as well."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.