Informational handbook

Housing

Independently obtained housing in Seoul, a city of 11 million people, is immensely expensive and difficult to arrange. As one of the significant benefits of your Fulbright grant, your housing will usually be arranged for you by KAEC before you come to Korea. In most cases, your housing will be assigned to you as part of your grant at no cost other than for utilities.

In 1999 the KAEC purchased property now called the Fulbright Building. The building contains the U.S. Education Center, Fulbright Testing Services, the administrative offices and, on the 4^th and 5^th floors, housing for grantees. There are a total of 10 units, primarily one-bedroom apartments appropriate for singles or (the slightly larger ones) for couples without children (faculty or graduate students). In the event that housing is not available for an individual grantee, a housing allowance is provided.
The apartments in the Fulbright Building are small (perhaps 360 square feet) but furnished and self-contained apartments. Most of them are three-room units, comprising a bedroom, a bathroom (with shower), and a living/kitchen area. They have basic furniture, including four-burner gas stove with oven, refrigerator, microwave, TV, desk, bookcase, bed, two reclining living room chairs, a small dining table, and minimum utensils and dishes. Each residential floor also has a washer and dryer for use at no charge. The units have separate air conditioning units and are heated by separate boilers and under-floor (ondol) heat.
KAEC has also arranged several other apartments located in a building in the Seogyo-dong area (5-minute walk from Hapjeong Station). These apartments are similar in set-up as described above.
The information that follows applies only to individuals who are provided housing by their institutions (typically lecturers) or who may be given a housing allowance because Fulbright housing is not available, or who choose to turn down Fulbright-assigned free housing and live elsewhere at their own expense.
Singles and Students - There are a variety of options in housing for singles if KAEC housing is not assigned:
UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED HOUSING - Often in obtaining affiliation with a Korean university, either as a visiting faculty member, a special student or even a student enrolled in a Korean language program, you will become eligible to reside in university housing. Depending on your status at the university, the accommodations may vary in size and furnishings. Yonsei University's International Dormitory, for instance, is conveniently located but only available for students enrolled at Yonsei, and during the regular semesters is limited to students who pay for the full semester. Winter vacation housing is sometimes available. Korea University's International Dormitory, on the other hand, is more open to accepting students only marginally related to the university, and will accept one-month residents at any time space is available.
HASUK-JIP (KOREAN-STYLE BOARDING HOUSE) - Generally located around major universities, a hasuk provides a room (can be shared but often single), food (Korean breakfast and dinner) and sometimes laundry services. The total fee is usually between W300,000 per month (shared room) to W600,000 per month (single), though it may vary by location as well. A hasuk is usually populated with young people who are either students or unmarried college graduates. The hasuk life depends on hasuk mates and the hasuk-jip ajumoni (landlady). Indeed, the reason it is virtually impossible to arrange a hasuk prior to arrival is that the hasuk-jip ajumoni usually insists on making a decision about whether to allow a new boarder into her home only after meeting the prospective boarder. Depending on the personality of each house, the degree of privacy and freedom (some have curfews) varies.
JACHUI (literally "cooking for oneself") - Jachui is like a hasuk in that it usually contains students or young professionals, but it is different in that no meals are provided. Instead, there is usually a kitchen (or minimum cooking facilities in the same room) where tenants can make their own meals. Although there may be some interaction with the owner of the house, a jachui by its very nature seems to offer a bit more freedom than a hasuk-jip. A jachui is a little more difficult to find than a hasuk, and often requires a large deposit (jeonsei) rather than monthly rent.
Families - Most apartments in Korea are paid for by monthly rent, nowadays, but a few are still acquired under what is called the “jeonsei” or "key money" system. This unique Korean rental system requires an up front payment of $50,000-$70,000 for an average-sized apartment (i.e. small by American standards), a deposit which the owner retains and uses for income until the premises are vacated. Although this "key money" is usually returned eventually (there is some risk here too), a renter must have this substantial sum to rent the apartment in the first place. Assuming the availability of this sum, of course, jeonsei rents are quite reasonable since they are equivalent only to the lost opportunity costs on the principal. With lower interest rates, more and more landlords are turning to regular monthly rentals, though a deposit may still be required. Grantees with families should contact the KAEC office about housing as early as possible in the process.

Utilities

Fulbrighters may have housing provided or may receive a housing allowance, but all Fulbrighters must cover all utility charges from their monthly "living allowance" which is provided precisely to cover expenses of this kind. Estimates may not be very meaningful as so much depends on individual habits, but monthly utility charges for the basic services mentioned above (not including telephone charges) probably will range from a low of $50 to a high of $150 per month for singles depending on the time of year and your personal habits.

As noted above, those living in a boarding house, an international house or university housing may not have to pay monthly utility charges. They may, however, be charged a monthly "service/maintenance" fee. The cost of utilities is factored into the monthly rental charges for these types of premises.