SH Corporation Seeks Shelter Options for Runaway Youth

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH Corporation) and the Youth Housing Rights Network are joining forces to create safe resting places for youth who have left their homes.

On the 23rd, SH Corporation and the Youth Housing Rights Network will hold a discussion titled "Finding Home Outside Home - A Forum for Guaranteeing Youth Housing Rights." The forum will be broadcast live online through SH Corporation’s YouTube channel, "Cheongsinho TV."

This forum is a follow-up event to the "Forum for Guaranteeing Children's Housing Rights" held on October 5 last year, World Habitat Day. Through the previous forum, SH Corporation called for social attention to ensure that children living in poor housing conditions can have their housing rights guaranteed. This time, the forum was planned together with the Youth Housing Rights Network to raise awareness of the housing conditions of youth who have left their homes and to emphasize the need to guarantee their housing rights.

Although social and institutional measures to guarantee the housing rights of children and youth have recently been implemented, many children and youth still face difficulties as they remain in policy blind spots. It is urgent to establish practical alternatives tailored to each situation to secure youth housing independence.

The forum will include youth directly experiencing these realities, field experts, policy researchers, and legislative officials as presenters and discussants to analyze the situation and seek solutions.

First, two youth will share the difficulties and dangerous realities faced by youth who have left their homes. Then, Jeong Je-hyung, a lawyer from the Youth Housing Rights Network (Dongcheon Foundation), will present "Policy Proposals for Guaranteeing Youth Housing Rights." Following this, Kang Seon-ju, counselor at Bucheon City Youth Temporary Shelter; Choi Eun-young, director of the Korea Urban Research Institute; Seo Jong-gyun, housing policy research activist; and Heo Min-sook, legislative researcher at the National Assembly Legislative Research Office, will engage in in-depth discussions to develop policy alternatives.

Kim Se-yong, president of SH Corporation, said, "Seoul City and SH Corporation have made various attempts in rental housing supply and housing counseling to guarantee the housing rights of children and youth," adding, "We will do our best to establish housing support policies that truly meet the needs of children and youth."