Listed below are the most common types of residences in Korea. Population density means almost every place available for rent will be a multistory building. Single story homes and dwellings exist, but are not as common and rare to find available to rent. Regardless of the type of residence you get, chances are you will live above someone else. Being a good neighbor means keeping noise levels down in the evenings, including TV volume, laundry machine usage, barking pets, and running children.
Roof access depends on the height of the building as the higher the roof the bigger the injury if someone falls. Apartments and dormitories usually block access to their roofs. If you have access, you’ll notice the roof is flat and is green colored due to the waterproofing chemicals. Viewed from a distance, this waterproofing can appear like grass. Roofs can be used to dry clothes, grow vegetables in pots, and host a dinner party under the stars. Please ask your landlord if there are any restrictions with using the roof.
Apartments are the most popular housing option among Koreans. The term in Korean is a shortened version of apartment (아파트, apateu) and frequently written as APT. In Korea, an apartment is actually defined as an apartment complex consisting anywhere from eight to sixteen buildings, each of which over 15 stories tall. In less populated areas and with older complexes, the average height will be smaller and can be as few as four buildings. City, location in city, view, transportation availability, south facing for sunlight, building age, number of parking spaces (Korea experienced a rapid increase in vehicle ownership in just a few decades which resulted in many apartments lacking spaces as the math kept changing), existence of underground parking, and brand name of apartment all highly influence the price.
Least sought-after units are ones on the first or second floor as they are noisier with outside noise and people entering to access the elevator. They are also more affected by outside weather as the elevator access means outside air frequently comes to their front door. First floor units frequently become daycare centers as they are cheaper, easier to access than other floors, and children don’t need to climb stairs or ride an elevator. Cheaper units are also ones at the very top of the building or at one of the two ends as their ceiling and/or one of their major walls do not have a neighboring unit which can provide insulation.
The best units within an apartment complex are called 로얄플로어, literally “royal floor” or 로얄층 (로얄層, royal cheung). These are the floors that have the best sunlight. For example, if a building is 10 floors tall, the “royal floors” might be from the 6th floor through the 9th floor as these floors’ sunlight will not get blocked by nearby buildings. Sometimes they also have the best views as there will be no buildings directly in front of them or the nearby buildings will be shorter. If the entire building fits this description, it can be called 로얄동 (로얄洞, royal dong) as 동 means a particular building. For example, a complex might have 12 buildings, going from 600동 to 612동. Within that complex, let’s say 607동 and 608동 are right by the river, have great views of the water, and will never have their sunlight be blocked by neighboring buildings.
Drawbacks to living in apartments include limited parking in older or cheaper units. Apartments built in the 1980’s and 1990’s did not construct as many parking spaces as would be made today as car ownership was lower. The culture has adapted by being very lenient on illegally or double parked cars as there sometimes is no space to park. Double parked cars are supposed to be left in neutral, allowing people to push them out of the way of cars they are blocking. Also, almost all cars and trucks have a cell/mobile number written and placed on the dashboard. If the vehicle is blocking traffic, anyone can call that number and tell the offender to move their vehicle. Apartments and sometimes universities will enforce parking by attaching a large A4-sized sticker on a window of the car. Bright yellow in color, this is both a shaming strategy aimed at attracting negative attention to the offender and a significant annoyance as the adhesive used is surprisingly strong.
Officetels (오피스텔, opiseutel), are a combination of office and hotel. Intended to be used as a very small office space/living space for an individually owned company, they come furnished with the bare essentials and provide minimal residential facilities. As more Koreans are living away from family before getting married, officetels have become popular for renting to singles who don’t need a lot of space and who don’t want to buy large housing items, like a bed or washing machine. They are located above storefronts, have elevator access and usually share long hallways. Intended for business usage, their utility bills are smaller than official residential areas.
Smaller single apartment buildings are referred to as villas in Korea (빌라, billa). As these are individually owned, there is no brand name and each building will have its own design. Chances are your landlord lives in or near the building, so getting face to face time could be as easy as going up or down some stairs. Usually under five floors, they don’t have elevators, and there are only one or two residences per floor. It is for these reasons villas are less desirable than proper apartment complexes. The rent is usually lower and the size is usually bigger than apartment complexes.
Studio apartments are called one-room (원룸, wollum) in Korean as they consist of one room. Cheaper than officetels, many are located near universities, organizations, or institutes. Larger versions are called 투룸 (turum) or 쓰리룸 (sseurirum) as they have two or three rooms, respectively. These are usually types of villas, but not necessarily. They can come as furnished or unfurnished.
At the north side of the HQ campus in Daejeon are two adjacent dormitories, the IBS Dormitory and the UST Dormitory. If you are interested in staying in one of these, contact your immediate supervisor and they will contact the dormitories on your behalf. The dedicates website for the IBS Dormitory closed December 2019 and related information will be migrated onto a new section of this website. If you Center is located within a university, you might be able to live in one of their dormitories (기숙사, 寄宿舍, gisuksa). As there are a large number of Centers located in university campuses, inquire your Center’s staff to see if you can have access.
There isn’t really a standardized name in English, but in 옥탑방 (屋塔房, oktapbang) are small single rooms built on top of a villa, usually after the primary construction was completed. The size is very small, they are very cheap, and the walls do not insulate very well which makes the occupant(s) very hot in summer and very cold in winter. The price is attractive to college students, but can be found away from university areas as well. A maximum of one will exist per roof so residents have no neighbors next to them and sometimes have great city views. The rest of the roof is sometimes claimed by the rooftop room tenant, rightfully or not, giving them additional space outside of their four walls.
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