Engineering:Gosiwon

Short description: Low-cost lodging facility in South Korea

Gosiwon (Korean: 고시원) is defined as "industrial activity that operates boarding businesses or other unclassified accommodation facilities that provide meals and lodging facilities together for a contract period" in the Korean standard industry classification of the National Statistical Office.

Name

There are many names with suffixes such as goshiwon, goshitel, studio apartment, livingtel, house, and residence, and sometimes goshiwon with unique nouns without park suffix nor suffix. Although the names are different, the area is similar in size and interior, and there is something in common that is subject to the Gosiwon method.

History

As the name suggests, Gosiwon is originally a residential facility for long-term test takers preparing for various exams and exams, but people other than test takers are also looking for it because it is cheaper than other residential facilities. As the main user of Gosiwon changed from student to office worker, the name "Gosi-tel" became popular, and more and more people removed the word "gosi" from its name, and some gave names such as "one-room-tel," "mini-one-room," "leaving-tel," and "~house. The groups using goshiwon can be largely divided into three categories: the first group is examinees, the second group is young single workers, the third group is the elderly, the disabled, the basic livelihood security recipients, and the urban poor, including low-wage and unstable workers. As such, Gosiwon has become an unstable residential area for the urban poor, which has a short-lived household form.

The Gosiwon appeared in around 1980, when the housing redevelopment craze turned Seoul's slums into apartments, and the low-cost housing for the poor in the city disappeared.During this period, Gosiwon changed its original purpose to a residential form for the poor. Park Min-kyu, a novelist, writes the following in his short novel "During the Period of Staying at Gosiwon in Gap," which was published in "Modern Literature" in June 2004.

Anyway, 1991 was the last time day laborers and nightlife workers began using goshiwons as lodgings, and there were still people studying goshiwons in those goshiwons.

In 1994, various media, including The Chosun Ilbo, the Kookmin Ilbo, the Kyunghyang Shinmun, and the Munhwa Ilbo, began to report the change of Gosiwon. The economic crisis of the Republic of Korea began in 1997 following the Asian financial crisis, and the use of goshiwon increased in 1998 with office workers at the center.

The number of goshiwons in Seoul increased steeply from 811 in 2001, 1,229 in 2002 and 1,507 in 2003 to 2,814 in 2006. The National Emergency Management Agency said there were 4,211 goshiwons nationwide as of January 1, 2006, and the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters found that 108,428 people lived in 3,451 goshiwons in Seoul from July 31 to September 25, 2008.

According to the survey results, lodging-type jobs, such as office workers (24.1%), unemployed (20.5%), and simple labor (12.7%), account for a total of 57.3%, higher than the learning-type jobs (42.7%) combined with students (23.3%) and job seekers (19.5%).[4] In Gyeonggi-do, where a similar survey was conducted between July and August of the same year, 73 percent of the lodging-type jobs were found.

Contract

It is advisable to make a monthly contract or to keep a copy and receipt after the contract is completed, as there may be disputes over the refund of the remaining amount in excess of one month. It is recommended to pay with a credit card as much as possible in the case of a contract, and the issuance of a cash receipt in the event of a cash transfer or transfer of an account can prevent possible. It is necessary to make sure that there is a "non-refundable" clause in the contract, so that there is less chance of losing money in the event of a mid-term contract termination. According to the consumer dispute settlement standard, when the contract is terminated in the middle, the examiner is required to deduct 10 percent of the remaining fees and refund the remaining amount.

According to the Korea Consumer Agency, out of 341 cases requiring damage relief from 2011 to 2015, 314 (92 percent) of the cases were rejected by the state-run examiners when they demanded a moderate cancellation. Victims by age group accounted for 53.1 percent in their 20s, followed by 20.7 percent in their 30s.

References

• "호텔 고시원 vs 쪽방 고시원" (in ko). 2010-01-26. http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/society_general/401055.html. 
• "서울시 "고시원 계약 시 월단위·신용카드로 결제하세요"" (in ko). 2015-11-30. https://www.edaily.co.kr/news/read?newsId=02489526609570968&mediaCodeNo=257. 
• "올해부터 배우자가 계약한 월세 세액공제… 고시원도 대상 추가 : 비즈N". 2018-01-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20180121125825/http://bizn.donga.com/realestate/East/3/all/20171107/87157949/2. 
• 박대한 (2017-11-07). "[연말정산 미리보기 배우자가 월세 계약해도 세액공제…고시원도 대상 포함"] (in ko). https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20171107035600002. 
• "분쟁 많은 고시원 계약, 결제는 신용카드로" (in ko). https://www.seoul.co.kr/news/newsView.php?id=20151201010009.