[Opinion] Supply of Small Apartments for Houseless People Should Be Expanded

I took a lease of a 24-pyong apartment with a deposit of 45 million won two years ago, but now I have been so anxious about finding a new house to move in because the deposit for the same-sized apartments in the neighborhood is over 80 million won.

According to a real estate agent, recently the small apartments are severely running short. It is because the private construction companies have concentrated on building up the medium- or large-sized apartments which are more profitable, since the government abolished the obligatory rate for the construction of the small-sized apartments. In actuality, the newly-built apartments for sale are only expensive ones over 30 pyong.

I once read the report that 4.5 million families comprised of four members are living in the house smaller than 10-pyong. Roughly speaking, 18 million people are living in poor surroundings. Recently I heard that Korea National Housing Corporation (KNHC) will abandon the function to supply the housing, in the process of merging with the Korea Land Corporation.

The state-owned corporation cannot be excluded from the corporate restructuring. But it is the severe problem that the government takes an indifferent attitude leaving all tasks to the market principle, rather than improves the housing welfare for the houseless peoples.

The government should be deeply aware that the low-income people who lack the self-help ability, gradually fail to have the houses which lease on a deposit basis as well as their own houses so that they cannot but move in narrower and poorer surroundings.

Kim Young-Chul (Suwon City, Kyonki Province)