The ruling party called a lawmaker’s proposal to turn discarded buses into youth housing a personal idea after fierce criticism from the opposition and young people.
Democratic Party lawmaker Hwang Hee speaks during a press briefing on housing policies at the National Assembly on Jan. 6.NEWS1
The "bus house" proposal put forward by Rep. Hwang Hee of the Democratic Party (DP) to expand housing supply for young people drew criticism from the People Power Party (PPP), while the DP distanced itself from the idea and dismissed it as a "one-off incident."
"This is a government that puts forward things like providing youth housing in repurposed buses as a policy," PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok wrote on a Facebook post on Sunday. "What young people want is for the government to establish proper real estate policies so they can afford to buy their own homes if they work hard."
The criticism stems from a proposal by Rep. Hwang, a three-term DP lawmaker, to remodel discarded buses into residential spaces and provide them as short-term housing for young people near university campuses.
He suggested the idea in a Facebook post on Friday, but deleted the post just two hours later after facing a barrage of criticism, including calls for him to "live in one himself." Rep. Hwang later explained that the idea was to provide the bus houses as "temporary accommodations until proper housing could be obtained" but criticism did not subside.
"The Lee Jae Myung administration’s real estate measures are becoming increasingly absurd," PPP leader Jang said on Friday. "They said they would convert stores and offices into residential spaces and supply them as housing, and now they are saying they will remodel discarded buses and provide them to young people."
Jang criticized the proposal as a measure that would leave young people without meaningful housing solutions.
An AI-generated image satirizing Democratic Party Rep. Hwang Hee's proposal to remodel discarded buses into residential spaces and provide them as short-term housing for young people, shared on online communities.SCREEN CAPTURE
"Rather than creating jobs for young people, they are telling them to move into repurposed buses and live there," Jang said. "Isn’t this making a mockery of young people who are already having a hard time?"
Choi Bo-yoon, the PPP’s senior spokesperson, also criticized the proposal, calling it "a bizarre incident" that showed "the overall chaos and serious disconnect from reality" in the Lee Jae Myung government’s real estate policies.
"As policy incompetence has blocked the way to normal housing supply, we have now reached the point where we have an absurd proposal that tells young people to live in repurposed buses," Choi said. "The absurd proposal to provide housing for as many as 10,000 households through discarded buses, while citing overseas examples, blatantly demonstrates how lightly the current government and ruling party have treated the lives of the people and the desperate circumstances facing young people."
People look at apartment complexes from Lotte World Tower in Songpa District, southern Seoul, on July 12.NEWS1
Choi said the proposal was no substitute for proper measures to increase housing supply.
"Unable to come up with proper measures to increase housing supply in urban areas, they are ultimately making a mockery of the younger generation with the ‘bus house,’ a deceptive and makeshift alternative," Choi said.
The DP distanced itself from the proposal, clarifying in a notice to the media that Rep. Hwang’s Facebook post was a personal opinion unrelated to the party’s position.
Han Jeoung-ae, the DP’s policy committee chair, also addressed the controversy at a press briefing at the National Assembly on Sunday.
"In Europe, where there are canals like in the Netherlands or where rainfall is consistent throughout the year, there are many boathouses, and I believe that is the context in which Rep. Hwang made the proposal," Han said. "I hope you will consider it a one-off incident."
Han also said the proposal was almost impossible to realize.
"Korea has dramatically different summers and winters, so the idea is not feasible," Han said. "There is no space or unused land where something like that could be placed. If there were unused land, it would be much better simply to build houses there."
Han Jeoung-ae, policy committee chair of the Democratic Party, speaks during a press briefing at the National Assembly on Aug. 9.YONHAP
Han described Hwang’s proposal as merely an idea and apologized for the hurt it had caused young people.
"The party takes the housing situation facing young people extremely seriously," Han said. "We are working to pursue bold increases in housing supply through various means, including youth housing near subway stations, housing for actual end users and publicly supported private housing, and that makes cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Government important."
Han also outlined ways to speed up youth housing supply.
"For non-apartment housing for young people, we could make modular construction mandatory and provide budget support for methods that allow housing to be supplied quickly, which could significantly shorten the timeline we have in mind," Han said.
BY CHO MUN-GYU [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
