Korea: Homes for All – Housing Rights, Social Change, Safety and Community
|Advocates say the Korean government to ensure the ‘right to housing’ remains insufficient. Image: Rebecca Corbett
By Min-jeong Shin, Byeong-Hoon An
The most authoritative international norms on human rights, such as the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, all enshrine the right to housing, the right to work, and the right to health for all citizens.
In 2015, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing, Leilani Farha, stated that “homelessness and inadequate housing not only violate the right to adequate housing and the right to non-discrimination but also severely infringe on various human rights, including the right to survival, security, and health.” She emphasised that governments have a constitutional obligation to address homelessness promptly, urging each government to develop a housing strategy that prioritises the eradication of homelessness by 2030, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), in its observations of South Korea in 2017 they expressed concern over the absence of a strategy addressing the root causes of homelessness and called for a long-term plan to resolve the issue.
However, the efforts of the South Korean government to ensure the ‘right to housing’ remains insufficient. In the 2020 Housing Welfare Roadmap 2.0, the Korean government announced plans to expand the supply of public rental housing for households living in inadequate housing. However, a long-term strategy is still lacking, and the budget allocated for these initiatives has been significantly reduced. Furthermore, homelessness policies continue to be overly focused on institutional care. This is why it is so important to bring the Homeless World Cup and the Cities Ending Homelessness conference to Seoul - to widen the understanding of the issue and explore the solutions.
|Serious changes need to be made to improve access to secure and affordable housing in Korea. Image: Rebecca Corbett
Advocates in Korea propose that the following seven improvements are necessary to achieve this:
The supply of public rental housing accessible to homeless individuals must be increased. Although housing support for vulnerable groups is gradually expanding, the supply remains critically insufficient.
Housing benefits must be adjusted to reflect actual housing costs and should not discriminate against specific groups.
Clear regulations on housing quality need to be established. Currently, there is a lack of relevant regulations, resulting in little improvement in the poor living conditions of households in housing poverty. Consequently, homeless individuals living in non-residential and inadequate housing, such as gosiwons (small, single-room apartments that are commonly found in South Korea), face routine violations of their rights to health and life.
A housing support system must be established for all individuals who are unable to access adequate housing due to poverty or lack of affordability. Housing alternatives should be provided so that those with disabilities or at risk of homelessness can live in homes within the community, rather than in institutions.
The scope of support under the Homeless Welfare Act must be broadened to include marginalised and excluded groups. Narrow interpretations of who qualifies for support contributes to the perpetuation of welfare blind spots. Additionally, the discretionary wording of welfare services in the Homeless Welfare Act—currently framed as “may”—should be changed to “must” to ensure effectiveness and to clarify that the state has an obligation and responsibility to address these issues.
A field support system for street homelessness, designed from the perspective of those experiencing homelessness, is essential. Social welfare services must be inclusive and accessible to those living on the streets.
Legal measures are needed to enforce housing policies, especially when policies under the Housing Act or other housing initiatives are not properly implemented. Currently, there are no legal consequences for failing to meet regulations, such as the supply of purchased rental housing for vulnerable groups.
All of these changes are essential to prevent further tragedies such as the recent years’ gosiwon (small, single-room accommodations) fires, semi-basement flooding incidents, and the deaths of homeless individuals on the streets, there is an urgent need for laws and systems that can provide housing and establish preventive and responsive measures for such crises. Advocacy groups in Korea are working to make these changes happen.