[The Editors' Verdict] The Death of the ‘Kkangtong Grandfather’... The Shackle Called Home

Broke Except for an 800 Million Won Apartment
No Liquid Assets, Poverty Leads to a Lonely Death
A Painful Reflection of Korean Society Shackled by Home Ownership

Jo Young-chul, Opinion Team Leader

If you have crossed the river, you must leave the raft behind. You should not become a foolish person who carries the raft on their back and climbs the mountain, thinking the raft is precious. However, many people cling to the raft even after crossing the river. Perhaps even now, each of us is struggling to climb the mountain carrying our own ‘raft’?something like a shackle.

On the 6th, an article titled “Broke Except for an 800 Million Won Apartment... The Tragedy of a 70-Year-Old Single Man (Chosun.com)” went viral on an online community. It is a painful reflection of Korean society where the ‘raft’ called a house has become a burden. The article introduces the story of the lonely death of a 70-year-old ‘Kkangtong Grandfather’ featured in the essay collection “My Second Name is Yeonah (Day One)” by social worker and writer Shin Ah-hyun, based on her real experiences.

The ‘Kkangtong Grandfather’ was named so by neighbors who saw him heating food by lighting a fire inside a can. Amid the redevelopment boom, he owned an apartment worth 800 million won but lived in such poverty that he could not even use electricity or gas due to lack of liquid assets, and he passed away alone. Because he owned a house, he was not eligible for basic living security benefits. When a social worker suggested, “How about selling the apartment to solve your financial problems?” it was to no avail. The grandfather refused, saying, “No matter how poor I am, I cannot sell my house, which is my everything.” For him, who had lived alone for 30 years, the house was more than just a living space; it was his entire life and pride.

Is the story of the ‘Kkangtong Grandfather’ just about some ‘ignorant person’? In South Korea, 80% of household average assets are tied up in real estate, and even the younger generation who bought apartments through so-called ‘young-kkul’ (all-in borrowing) are struggling to repay loans.

According to a survey conducted by NH Investment & Securities’ 100-Year Life Research Institute at the end of last year on 1,500 office workers aged 30 to 59 enrolled in retirement pensions, the average financial assets available for retirement are 170 million won. Considering that the appropriate average monthly household living expenses for retirement were reported as 3 million won, this amounts to only about four years’ worth of living expenses. If this continues, many people living in apartments worth hundreds of millions of won will inevitably suffer financial hardship after retirement. It means anyone can face an unhappy old age.

Thus, the story of the ‘Kkangtong Grandfather’ accurately reveals the essence faced not only by the elderly but also by middle-class and above households in South Korea. It shows that by eliminating excessive obsession with real estate, our society can reduce unnecessary financial waste and enjoy a somewhat more comfortable retirement.

The ‘Kkangtong Grandfather’ also poses a fundamental question about what a house means to us. Gaston Bachelard, the philosopher of happiness, said in “The Poetics of Space” that “human life begins in the cradle called home before being thrown into the world.” The house is a cozy cradle that protects me from the world.

However, in South Korea, apartments have lost their original residential purpose and have become assets that divide wealth inequality. The polarization of housing prices between Seoul and other regions, as well as the widening gap between Gangnam and Gangbuk within Seoul, have become factors of social instability. Although the anxieties of those without a home and those who own one cannot be treated equally, their anxieties share the same root. As houses have become investment targets, even those owning multi-billion won homes feel anxious about housing price fluctuations.

In a reality where houses have become liquid assets for “making money from money,” this reflective question arises: Is a house a place to live, or something to live for? Paradoxically, the ‘Kkangtong Grandfather’ may have understood best that a house is not something to live for, but a place to live.

Jo Young-chul, Opinion Team Leader