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Apartment buildings are a widespread feature of present-day Korea, in particular within the major cities. These complexes, sometimes with dozens of floors, house most South Korean urban residents. They're safe, inviting, convenient and designed to meet the preferences of today's Korean citizens. At the same time, they take on a humdrum, monotonous quality and excessively monopolize the skyline. Let's look at this part of Korean culture as an advanced nation.
Wikipedia refers to apartment buildings (or apateu danji) as "tower blocks." It describes the main contours of this architectural style: multiple units, built with reinforced concrete and steel, and useful for areas of high population density. It surprised me to read that Seoul has a population density greater than New York and Paris. Korean versions also comprise shopping centers, parking and other needed services. Among the tallest apartment buildings in Korea are the Haeundae Doosan "We've the Zenith" Tower in Busan (301 meters, 80 floors) and Samsung Tower Palace in Seoul (264 meters, 73 floors).
When I lived in Seoul, I enjoyed the use of a unit in a tower apartment building in Pungnap 1-dong. Not a newer accommodation, it still had the typical features of Korean family apartments. Jang Won-seok, writing for CityNetBlog (Jan. 2, 2014) describes the architecture. Korean apartments most often assume a family of four, two adults and two children. Two bedrooms and a bathroom for children follow the entranceway. The entrance has a hallway where residents and guests remove and place their shoes on entry. A large living room forms the center of the unit and is next to the kitchen and eating area. The main bedroom and separate bathroom occupy the innermost extreme of the unit. The unit may contain a balcony. Of course, apartment buildings may feature more elaborate, larger and smaller units. However, most average 85 sq. meters (25 pyeong), a size designed to control prices and limit speculation. Many units don't have ovens or clothes dryers, though they may have washing machines, refrigerators and stovetops.
The chaebol or large Korean conglomerates build many apartment buildings, which bear their names. The more modern and trendy have advanced security, parking, phone and Internet, and other benefits. Outside there may be schools, parks and walking areas, playgrounds, restaurants and shops.
A recent empirical study by professors Yim Hae-lee, Lee Byeong-hun, Kim Ju-hyung and Kim Jae-jun of Hanyang University examined Korean preferences for apartments. They discussed five reasons influencing Koreans' choices: residents, apartment buildings, environmental, societal and relationship satisfaction. Of the causes, household satisfaction and relationship satisfaction (repair and upkeep services) had the greatest influence. They found that a key part of household satisfaction was the design of the apartment's interior for resident living patterns.
An important officer for apartment buildings is the security guard. The guards, usually middle-aged and older men, care for the safety of residents day in and day out. Underpaid and undervalued, I've written about the curious tendency of Koreans to view these important people as servants and too often with disrespect.
Of course, we should note that despite a slow housing market and the end of the last decade's speculation frenzy, there remains concern over pricing and rental gouging. A December 2014 Korea Times report by Yoon Ja-young noted that in Seoul housing markets, conglomerates have been guilty of taking too much profit, and that speculation has increased on older apartments in Gangnam.
As developers and investors update and modernize apartments, prices can rise beyond the government's previous price cap, which recently ended. In related fashion, rising jeonse (rental deposit) amounts often squeeze middle- to lower-income earners. Another recent Korea Times report by Chung Ah-young (Sept. 25, 2014) noted the average deposit was 310 million won ($269,000). A recent trend toward monthly rent (Korea Times, Chung Ah-young, Dec. 4, 2014) hasn't made housing more affordable either.
So, despite the ubiquity of apartments, popular appearances situate a complex reality. The uniform look masks a more diverse reality of class difference. Income and wealth mark the towers of Korean apartments too. Away from the elegant friezes, you'll see shanty towns such as Guryeong Village or Nokcheon. Too many people live in inadequate buildings. In Korea's advanced cities, these aging structures counterpoise the progressive to well-off lifestyle of newer apartment buildings.
Plans for Korea's architecture and technology of the apartment building should include mixed income and other equity-based housing developments. Public and private cooperation won't occur without policy development and incentives. Local and provincial governments should build and keep watch over the affordable housing supply. Jeonse abuses and rental pricing need reform too, and prosecutions when they occur. Satellite cities should ease housing costs in major metropolitan areas, but their development must keep pace with demographics and housing needs.
Bernard Rowan is assistant provost for curriculum and assessment and professor of political science at Chicago State University, where he has served for 22 years. Write him at browan10@yahoo.com.
