[The Editors' Verdict] "Esaengmang" Faces Soaring Housing Prices

This year again, the home drama scene is flooded with time-loop stories. These dramas depict the process of going back to a certain point in the past and succeeding in revenge or life turnarounds that would be impossible in this life. Recent works include "I’m Dying Soon" (TVING Original Series), "The Perfect Marriage Formula" (MBN), and "Marry My Husband" (tvN). The popularity of time-loop stories continues following the success of the representative work "The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate Family" (JTBC), which achieved a peak viewership rating of 26.9%.

These time-loop stories go beyond the traditional "Back to the Future"-style time travel. After the "life reset," they focus on individual desires themselves. The protagonist who returns to the past does not worry about the impact on the present caused by changing the past but concentrates solely on the protagonist’s life turnaround.

The popularity of time-loop stories stems from the frustration of the younger generation. The despair over a life that does not change no matter how hard one tries, the sense of defeat that they cannot beat those born with a silver spoon, and beyond changing the color of the spoon, the resignation of "Esaengmang" (this life is ruined) ? the belief that even carrying out major life events such as dating, marriage, and childbirth will be difficult in this life ? all contribute to the popularity of time-loop stories.

This frustration can be traced back to the collapsed housing ladder. It has become virtually impossible to buy a house in Seoul with just a salary. According to the 2022 Housing Survey, it would take 15.2 years of saving without spending a single penny. Not spending any salary at all is unrealistic, and it is uncertain whether one can even maintain a job for 15 years.

As of last year, the average amount of money needed to apply for a newly built apartment in Seoul was estimated at 1 billion KRW. The sale price is usually set lower than the market price of surrounding apartments, but the average sale price rose by 28.4% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the total wage increase rate barely exceeded 2.7%, and the real wage adjusted for inflation actually decreased by 1.0%. Even without making significant mistakes in life, one cannot help but lament "Esaengmang."

However, the government seems poised to raise housing prices further. The president announced plans to ease regulations so that apartments over 30 years old can start reconstruction procedures without safety inspections. They also said they would exclude officetels and similar properties from the housing count. Along with news that housing prices in Seoul, including old apartments, will rise, there are expectations that the tax burden on multi-homeowners will decrease. These announcements came ahead of the general election in April.

The relative deprivation of the younger generation has grown even larger. They are now in a position where they must make choices for a "life reset." They either try to buy an apartment by "Youngkkeun" (borrowing to the limit) to aim for a life turnaround or live each day in familiar despair. Neither option is an appropriate answer that society can offer to the younger generation.

However, this housing price inflation does not seem likely to end as a regrettable election-season phenomenon. Once housing prices rise, they rarely fall easily. The frustration of the younger generation will continue and affect their life cycles. Uncertain residence and an unstable future caused by high housing prices ultimately lead to low birth rates (Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, Diagnosis of Causes of Low Birth Rate and Directions for Real Estate Policy, 2023). Ultimately, the government’s reset should have started not with populist construction policies but with resolving this despair.