South Korea is a crowded country, with almost 50 million people living in an area about the size of the US state of Indiana. Approximately 90% of that land is mountainous, meaning that the Koreans have had to use space ingeniously to make room for everybody. This means mostly building up instead of out.
While there are a few single-family houses dotted around the landscape, there are three main types of living quarters that South Korea’s expats will find themselves living in. Read on to see what your future house in South Korea will probably be like.
By far, the most popular type of housing in South Korea is the apartment, and Koreans see the “apatu” much like Westerners see the single-family house with white picket fence and private lawn. For this reason, there has been a housing boom in South Korea as speculators build more and more apartment blocks, and prices were not hit by the 2008 crash that devastated the housing stock in countries like America.
For this reason, renting apartments in Korea can be expensive. In a middle-class area in Seoul, the monthly rent for an apartment can easily top 1 million won (850 USD) for an old building in pretty rough condition. New apartments are kitted out with state-of-the-art appliances you probably didn’t even know existed (I’ve seen shoe closets that automatically disinfect shoes with ultraviolet light). You’ll pay a premium for these units, which may cost over 2 million won, and even above 3 million in a sought-after neighborhood. Prices will be slightly lower in Busan, but the real deals are in the countryside, where new, ultra-modern three-bedroom apartments can be rented for less than 500,000 won.
Those prices don’t include the high housing deposits in South Korea, which I’ll discuss in a future post. For apartments, expect to put down at least 10 million won. Deposits of 100 million won are possible, if you want to live amongst Korean celebrities and moguls.
Apartments tend to be two- or three-bedroom units, and are built largely for families. Since many Koreans live with their parents until they marry, and married couples tend to have children shortly after tying the knot, there is less demand for smaller apartments for couples in the country. The one-bedroom apatu is a rare breed.
Apartments are usually stacked above one another in identical blocks that can be found throughout the country. One development will consist of several massive concrete buildings that are identical to each other and facing one another in a small community. There is usually a small shop and maybe a restaurant or two on site, but most apartment-dwellers will go to a nearby boulevard for shopping, entertainment, and nightlife.