Prime Minister Han Seong-sook tours a dense studio-apartment district in Sinchon, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on Friday afternoon. [Yonhap]
Prime Minister Han Seong-sook tours a dense studio-apartment district in Sinchon, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on Friday afternoon. [Yonhap]

Prime Minister Han Seong-sook spent her first weekend in office visiting a university neighborhood to assess housing conditions for young people firsthand.

Han toured studio-apartment clusters in the Sinchon area of Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, and a public dormitory in Hongje-dong on Friday afternoon.

Guided by a licensed real estate agent and Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Dong-a, Han inspected the area before sitting down with young residents of studio apartments and dormitories to hear their concerns about housing costs and the job market.

"Seeing the situation for myself, I could feel the hardship young people face because of high housing costs," Han said at the meeting. "It made me think we need to significantly increase the supply of dormitories and youth housing."

She also acknowledged the difficulty of securing suitable sites, saying it was necessary to quickly discuss workable solutions — including ways to coexist with nearby studio-apartment owners. Han promised that related ministries, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Education and the Prime Minister's Office, would work directly with young people to develop concrete plans for expanding housing supply.

Young attendees called for an expansion of public institution support programs to help ease the job shortage and build early career experience. Han said she recognized the importance of a young person's first career step and pledged to work harder to expand work experience programs, including youth internships.

After the meeting, Han signed copies of novelist Kim Ae-ran's short story collection "Annyeongirageuraesseo" and presented them as gifts to the young participants.


kyoung@heraldcorp.com