How Korea Became an Apartment Country — From 1962 to Raemian
7-minute video · EpicKor
65.3% of Korea's homes are apartments. The first complex, in 1962, struggled to find tenants; by August 2026 the average Seoul apartment cost about $1.19 million. The Mapo complex, Gangnam, the 84-square-metre "national size", 25-character brand names and floor noise — from the Korean census, the National Archives and KB price data.
Read the full guide
Chapters
- 0:00A company name in every address
- 0:30The numbers: 65% of homes
- 0:571962: the apartment few wanted
- 2:59The name: Raemian and 25 characters
- 4:27The ceiling: 33,027 calls about noise
- 5:21The price: $1.19M in Seoul
- 6:19One last number: living alone
Sources
- Statistics Korea (now the National Data Office), 2024 Population and Housing Census (29 July 2025)
- Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, December 2024 housing statistics (5 February 2025)
- National Archives of Korea, records on the Mapo Apartments, Gangnam and the first new towns
- korea.kr policy briefing (2 March 2007) on the 1989 new towns
- Housing Act art. 2 and Restriction of Special Taxation Act art. 106 (Korea Law Information Center)
- Samsung C&T newsroom (11 May 2021)
- Hankyung Business (February 2024), longest apartment name
- Seoul Metropolitan Government, apartment-naming guide (citing Budongsan Info, 2019)
- Korea Environment Corporation, Floor Noise Neighbor Center statistics 2024
- KB Real Estate data hub, average apartment prices, August 2026
- Valérie Gelézeau, The Apartment Republic (Korean edition, Humanitas, 2007)
