Seoul sets minimum living standards in gosiwons: rooms with minimum size and a window.
On January 4, Seoul Metropolitan Government announced it has promulgated an amendment to the Seoul Building Ordinance to improve living conditions in low-cost accommodation.
From July 1, any newly-built gosiwon in Seoul should have rooms no smaller than 7 square meters (75 sq ft), and at least 9m2 if rooms come with a private toilet. Rooms will also need a window to the exterior.
The regulation will also be enforced if a gowison has some repair or renovation, and any other work requiring a permit.
A gosiwon, or goshiwon, is a low-cost multi-living accommodation facility. Rooms are tiny, bathrooms and kitchens are usually shared. These packed dormitories were originally dedicated to Korean students. But it became more widely used as a form of permanent housing as real estate prices skyrocketed.
Gosiwons are mostly located in South Korea’s capital and its surroundings. More than half of Seoul’s gosiwon rooms are smaller than 7m2. Moreover, since rooms are often aligned one after the other, more than half of them do not have any windows with access to natural light.
Better living conditions and the possibility to escape a fire
In some districts of Seoul, a room of 5m2 with no toilet, shower or window can be rented for 200,000 won a month (US$167), Chosunilbo reports. A window cost ₩50,000 more ($42).
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Seoul Metropolitan Government’s amendment comes after a fire sparked in a gosiwon in the district of Jongno in 2018. Seven people died and 11 were injured because the evacuation was difficult with no windows in the rooms and narrow corridors in the building.
The city asked South Korea’s ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to revise the law and establish minimum living standards. The ministry modified the Enforcement Decree of the Building Act in June 2021 and allowed local authorities to modify their regulations.
Some rules already prevent gosiwons from having rooms underground or require some other safety regulations like sprinklers. But many gowisons were built before the need for a sprinkler, as it was the case in Jongno in 2018 where there was no sprinkler in the building on fire.
