Democrats' First Youth Policy: "50,000 Dormitories at 200,000 Won per Month"

November 11, LAB2030 Youth Policy Presentation Meeting

The Democratic Party of Korea announced on the 11th its 'Youth No. 1 Policy' aimed at next year's general election: a plan to supply 50,000 dormitory units at around 200,000 KRW per month. The purpose is to reduce the soaring housing cost burden so that young people can enjoy comfortable and stable housing welfare.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The party's youth organization, 'LAB 2030,' held the '1st Youth Policy Announcement Meeting' at the National Assembly in the afternoon and unveiled this policy. Floor leader Hong Ik-pyo explained at the meeting that the plan to supply 50,000 dormitory units at around 200,000 KRW per month was chosen as the No. 1 policy pledge because "(young people) would be able to bear housing costs at a more affordable price, allowing them to study stably or have more leisure in life while seeking jobs."

Hong Jeong-min, head of LAB 2030, also stated, "The first policy to be announced by LAB 2030 is to supply 50,000 university dormitory units at around 200,000 KRW per month," adding, "The goal is to establish 30,000 dormitory units in the metropolitan area and 20,000 units in non-metropolitan areas." Hong said, "As university entrance exams are coming to an end, many students will leave home and choose to move into university dormitories or live alone," but "university dormitories are highly competitive and difficult to enter, and renting near schools is expensive, which burdens parents." He pointed out, "In Seoul university districts, the average one-room rent is a 10 million KRW deposit and 700,000 KRW monthly rent, and in some expensive areas, monthly rent exceeds 800,000 KRW. Such a housing burden forces students who choose to live alone to work part-time to pay rent, leaving them with little time to focus on their studies."

The Democratic Party sees the need to expand public dormitories at the level of affordable shared dormitories and has prepared detailed plans to secure dormitory sites.

Hong said, "By utilizing closed or soon-to-be-closed elementary and secondary schools in old urban areas and public facilities of local governments, we can build 30,000 dormitory units," adding, "There is a plan to lease these closed or soon-to-be-closed schools to the Private School Promotion Foundation free of charge through consultation with the education office." He noted, "In Seoul alone, there are three unused closed schools and three scheduled to close in 2024; in Gyeonggi Province, there are 17 unused closed schools and 42 closed schools currently used by cities, education offices, or local governments," and added, "In cooperation with local governments, convenience facilities for nearby residents such as public parking lots, study rooms, cafes, and cultural and sports complex facilities can also be installed in new dormitories."

Additionally, the plan includes adding 15,000 units by utilizing national and public university sites and 5,000 units by including dormitory construction in public land development projects.

Furthermore, the party emphasized easing the burden on young people by expanding payment options for dormitory fees, which are mostly paid in lump sums, to mandatory installment payments. Hong said, "In addition to building new dormitories, we will introduce systems to reduce the burden of dormitory payments," and proposed "amending the Higher Education Act to expand payment methods for university dormitory fees and establishing a mandatory provision for installment payments."

The Democratic Party plans to continue announcing youth policies following this initial policy.

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