Evolution of Public Housing Policy in Korea: From Distribution to Rental Housing = Evolution of Public Housing Policy in Korea: From Distribution to Rental Housing

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Public housing policies in Korea started out as emergency measures after the Korean War. Initially, the government did not plan on building houses; rather it intended to assist private individuals in financing their homes by providing loans, making the policy less geared towards those belonging to the lower social strata and more towards the middle class. The government investment in public housing remained extremely low. In the 1970s, the government tried to encourage private construction companies to engage in public housing projects on a large scale. Consequently, the housing price skyrocketed. The government tried to keep the price down on several occasions, these attempts ultimately failed. The government eventually crafted a comprehensive plan that encompassed everything from land development to selling houses. In the 1980s, the government planned to build more publicly-funded small-scale houses. Such houses could not, however, sufficiently address the housing problem for people with lower incomes. Only by the end of 1990s, when the construction of national rental housing, did rental housing officially become part of Korea`s public housing policy. From the early 2000s onwards, national rental housing has continually been made available en masse. In short, public housing policy took its current form as part of the government`s overall social planning after 1997 when Korea began to experience economic crisis. In light of this, it could be argued that Korea`s housing policy is distinct, especially in comparison to the West where housing policies developed during times of fast economic growth.