PPP slams gov't plan to put bathtubs in goshiwon rooms: 'Youth policy or youth mockery?'

The People Power Party on Sunday called for a complete overhaul of the government's youth housing policy, criticizing the administration for floating a plan to allow bathtubs in individual goshiwon rooms — only to walk it back after a public backlash.

PPP chief spokesperson Choi Bo-yun said in a statement that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had thrown the country into an uproar by announcing a proposed revision to building standards for multi-unit residential facilities that would have permitted bathtubs in individual goshiwon rooms. "The country has been turned upside down once again over what the government calls a youth housing measure," she said.

Choi said young people's anger went beyond the bathtub itself. "Jokes about whether the government would next install bathtubs in decommissioned buses show the cynicism toward a government whose view of youth housing is completely out of touch with reality," she said.

The bathtub proposal had already drawn online ridicule alongside an earlier satirical meme targeting Democratic Party lawmaker Hwang Hee's "bus house" idea, with the two proposals mocked together in a wave of internet parody.

Choi continued her criticism, saying it was hard to tell whether the policies the ruling party put forward for young people were actual policies or mockery. "It is only after getting hammered by fierce backlash that they announce yet another 'review,'" she said.

She also questioned how the public could trust the government's policymaking. "If they rush out policies and then review them whenever public opinion turns sour, how are people supposed to have any faith in this government?" she said.

Choi said youth housing problems could not be solved by dressing up outdated spaces. "What is needed is a genuine housing ladder — expanding the supply of quality homes, lowering the cost burden, and giving young people a real path to better housing," she said.

She urged the Lee Jae Myung administration to immediately halt what she called performative youth housing policies and start over from scratch.

"What young people need is not a goshiwon with a comfortable bathtub where they can stay forever," she said. "It is the hope that, just as their parents' generation did, if they work hard and make the effort, they can walk out of that goshiwon door and move on to a better tomorrow."

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had announced the proposed revision on Aug. 12, but after it drew criticism as out-of-touch policymaking and sparked a wave of online satire, the ministry signaled it was effectively shelving the plan, saying it would "review the relevant provisions as various opinions have been raised during the public notice process."