Once a cheap option for South Korean students, tiny rooms now draw foreign clientele

SEOUL – Gosiwon, the term for housing set-ups in South Korea reminiscent of a cocoon originally built for exam preppers, have long been associated with urban and youth poverty.

The common narrative is that rising home prices in cities force more people to live in the basic, minimal accommodations with little to no amenities.

In recent years, though, the tiny and low-budget rooms seem to have found a new clientele: budget-conscious foreign travellers and international students.

Ms Alice Srugies, a 39-year-old German artist and writer, stayed at a gosiwon near Sungshin Women’s University Station during her one-month trip to Korea in 2024.

Initially attracted by the affordable price compared with hotels and other options on Airbnb, she found the gosiwon to be the perfect fit.

“I planned to stay for more than a month and wanted to have a budget for exploring the culture and travelling around the country,” Ms Srugies told The Korea Herald.

“Gosiwon gave me an opportunity to have a base in Seoul where I could leave my luggage and to go on short trips to different parts of the country with just a small backpack.”

Having first appeared in the late 1970s, the gosiwon – which literally translates to “exam room” – is a form of low-cost accommodation.

They have few amenities, and are designed for those whose lives are pretty much filled with cramming and studying, who need only a place to crash at night.

Monthly rent for a unit in these dorm-style facilities in Seoul’s central Jongno-gu district typically ranges around 400,000 won (S$366) to 500,000 won, depending on the room size and other factors, such as whether the room has a window.

A typical gosiwon unit comes furnished with a small bed, a study desk and a shower booth, with sizes ranging from about 10 to 33 square meters.

No deposit, no hassle

Renting a home in South Korea typically involves a lump-sum security deposit, which is typically at least 10 times the monthly rent and is refunded upon contract expiration.

The deposit-free gosiwon is a sought-after option among foreign residents studying or working in South Korea on temporary visas.

“A deposit for other accommodations is usually very high, and there is a lot of bureaucratic paperwork that foreigners aren’t familiar with,” said Ms Vittoria Fiorenza, a 29-year-old Italian-Russian, who lived in a gosiwon in 2021 for 11 months when she attended the Korean language programme at Ewha Womans University.

While a gosiwon rental contract typically includes simple terms such as the duration of stay, no-smoking rules and penalties for unpaid rent, apartment contracts require multiple documents, including credit checks and guarantor paperwork.

At Simple House, a gosiwon near Sinchon Station in Seoul where 90 per cent of the guests are from abroad, some have become long-term residents to avoid the high deposits and complicated contracts, according to owner Lee Sung-hee.

“I felt that foreigners don’t want to be tied down to a long contract or a hefty deposit because they might change jobs and move to another area or face visa issues. Unless they settle in Korea after, like, getting married, many of them prefer gosiwon, where they can move in and out flexibly,” she said.

Instead of visiting a real estate agency to look for available rooms at local gosiwon, foreign tenants usually search for listings through online platforms or seek recommendations from Korean friends, then sign contracts directly with the landlord, according to Ms Lee.

Beyond simply providing a room, Ms Lee enjoys interacting with many of her foreign guests as friends.

“I enjoy drinking coffee with them at our shared kitchen. We sometimes have lunch together,” she said.

“In recent years, the number of foreign guests has significantly increased. Many of them chose to live here simply because they love Korea culture, so I hope they have a positive impression of Korea after their stay at the gosiwon.”

Ms Kaitlyn MacCaull, 33, a Canadian hotel worker based in Scotland, stayed at a gosiwon for over a month in October 2022 when she joined a bike tour from Incheon to Busan.

“What makes them popular is that they are quite cheap, and having your own room is appealing compared to sharing a room in a hostel,” said Ms MacCaull.

“Canadians and Scottish people wouldn’t understand living in such a small space. But with housing crises in both countries, they may have to start building (accommodations like gosiwon).”

A glimpse into Korean life

Since a gosiwon is not a tourist facility and is primarily home to ordinary South Koreans, it offers an ideal opportunity for foreigners to actually live alongside South Koreans – an experience they might not encounter if they stay at a hotel.

Ms Srugies was once startled by a huge pile of packages delivered by Coupang at the entrance of her gosiwon building, saying, “(Korean) tenants embarked on an Easter egg hunt to find theirs”.

A fridge in the shared kitchen solely dedicated to kimchi, as well as a showerhead attached to the toilet, were also culture shocks, though Ms Srugies said she quickly got used to them.

For Mr Sean Beaudette, a 33-year-old American who currently teaches English in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, one of the peculiar aspects of South Korean life at the gosiwon where he lived from August 2020 to January 2021 was the practice of drying clothes outside.

“It was the first, and possibly only time, in my life that I had to dry my clothes outside. Since I lived there during the winter, there were a few instances where my clothes flew to the other side of the rooftop. I had to gather and wash them again,” he said.

Ms Katharina Faecknitz, a 31-year-old German lecturer in Seoul who lived in a gosiwon from August 2021 to January 2022, shared a special memory with her host.

“I had a few interactions with Koreans during my stay. I had a really nice host. When I got the Covid-19 vaccination, he helped me with going to the doctor, and bought me some medicine in case I feel sick,” Ms Faecknitz said.

Ms Lee, the owner of Simple House, said the shared spaces often become the place for South Korean and foreign residents to become friends.

Basic food items like rice, instant noodles and kimchi are typically provided for free at the shared kitchen in gosiwon.

“There have been many foreigners who stayed here to take K-pop vocal or dance lessons, and they loved chatting with Koreans in the shared kitchen,” Ms Lee said.

“I’ve seen many Koreans and foreigners become friends in the kitchen, exchanging languages. I also made foreign friends here by sharing tourist tips. Some of them who went back to their countries even reached out to book a room before coming back to Korea,” she added.

Paper-thin walls a minus

For some foreign tenants sensitive to privacy, the gosiwon’s poorly soundproofed walls can be a major nuisance, blurring the line between private and communal living.

“The walls in my gosiwon were paper-thin, so I had to make extra efforts to be quiet at night. My gosiwon (room) was right next to the kitchen. One night I heard an angry tenant yelling and swearing at the elderly gosiwon owners. I felt sorry for them,” Mr Beaudette said.

Stressing the gosiwon’s advantage of being able to interact with a variety of other foreigners, Mr Roy Sampriti shared his negative experience with the noise.

“Some foreigners like to collaborate with each other, so a foreigner-friendly gosiwon can be a good choice for them. But at the gosiwon, I could hear my neighbors’ voices, their phone calls and even snoring and fighting. It wasn’t a good experience,” said Mr Sampriti, a 28-year-old Indian graduate research assistant at Gachon University’s College of Medical Science who lived at a gosiwon near Noryangjin Station in Seoul between February and April 2023. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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