Prior to international standardization of the metric system, every country had to determine their own measurement systems. For our purposes, this section will only focus on one of the traditional Korean units of measurement; pyeong (평, 坪). One pyeong is equivalent to approximately 3.31 square metres or 35.58 square feet. This is nearly identical in size to the Taiwanese ping or the Japanese tsubo. The pyeong page on Wikipedia has more details on the similarities and differences between these three systems.

While Korea has used the metric system for decades, it is still common to see housing measurements in both square meters and pyeong but square meters are slowly becoming the new standard. When a residence is measured, the public hallway/stairwell and all enclosed balconies are included in the measurement. This means the size of the residence can be confusing and rather misleading. When you are searching for a residence, make sure you clarify what is the space that is truly yours; 전용면적 (專用面積, jeonyong myeonjeok) which can be directly translated as “exclusive use” (전용) + “area” (면적).

Enclosed balconies, called verandas in Korean (베란다, beranda) were the norm for decades and seen positively as they create an extra temperature barrier from the outside elements and provide storage space or be used as a place to dry laundry. Public sediment has changed resulting in newer built apartments have the option to “upgrade” their units, which means no verandas. The space that would be used for storage is now used to make the rooms larger and double sets of windows provide the insulation that verandas provided.

If you are interested in reading more, Wikipedia has a page dedicated to Korean units of measurement.