K-pop star's apartment lottery win sparks debate on housing fairness
A reported apartment lottery windfall tied to the IVE's An Yu-jin has intensified criticism that Korea's housing subscription system favors cash-rich buyers over ordinary home seekers.
Singer An Yu-jin of girl group IVE poses for photograph during a showcase in eastern Seoul on Feb. 23.NEWS1
A lucrative apartment windfall linked to K-pop girl group IVE member An Yu-jin — with projected resale gains at 1.8 billion won ($1.2 million) — has reignited debate over whether Korea's housing subscription system is stacked in favor of applicants with substantial cash.
An was reported to have won a general lottery for a unit at The H Bangbae apartment complex inSeocho District, southern Seoul, according to a local media outlet on Friday.
Her agency on Monday did not verify, claiming it was a "private matter," but the news has nonetheless sparked anger among aspiring homebuyers who say the system rewards wealth rather than housing need.
“The current housing subscription system has become a mechanism that favors the wealthy,” an aspiring homeowner said.
Because newly built apartments in wealthy neighborhoods in Seoul — notably Gangnam and the surrounding districts in southern Seoul — are subject to state-imposed price caps, buyers can often purchase them well below market value.
However, applicants still need substantial cash reserves to have any realistic chance of completing the purchase after winning the lottery.
The H Bangbae, for example, buyers must pay a down payment equal to 20 percent of the purchase price. For an 84-square-meter (904-square-foot) unit, that amounts to roughly 400 million won in cash upfront.
A total of 215 units in the complex were allocated by lottery. Seventy-five percent of lottery-allocated units were reserved for applicants who do not own a home, while the remaining 25 percent were drawn from unsuccessful first-round applicants without homes as well as those who own a single home.
The complex went on sale in August 2024. Presale prices were set at 1.7 billion won for a 59-square-meter unit, 2.24 billion won for an 84-square-meter unit, 2.5 billion won for a 101-square-meter unit, and 2.76 billion won for an 114-square-meter unit.
Rendered image of The H Bangbae apartment complexHYUNDAI ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION
Only units measuring 84 square meters or larger were included in the lottery allocation.
An 84-square-meter unit is currently listed on the market for around 4 billion won. It means that a successful buyer of that unit could realize an estimated paper gain of about 1.8 billion won.
Buyers are also ineligible for a deferred-interest payment program on interim payments. Thus, those who take out construction loans must shoulder monthly interest payments that can run into several million won.
“The An Yu-jin case has finally exposed why the housing subscription system needs a complete overhaul,” an anonymous user wrote on Blind, an online forum popular among office workers.
“The current system reserves these lottery-like opportunities for a small minority of applicants with ample disposable cash. Ordinary young people don't have that level of money. The problem isn't the lottery itself — it's that the financial threshold for even entering it is too high,” the user wrote.
The newly built Bangbae apartment complex will admit residents starting this September.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
