Amid gloomy prospects of home ownership with a growing number of South Koreans considered ‘rent poor’, the number of mentions of ‘rent’ on social media in 2016 surpassed that of ‘jeonse’, a type of lease unique to South Korea, according to a report conducted by Daumsoft, a South Korean artificial intelligence-based big data analytics company. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 27 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent report has revealed the most popular keywords used by South Koreans on social media in recent years, a list that includes ‘rent’, ‘loan’, and ‘self interior’.
Amid gloomy prospects of home ownership with a growing number of South Koreans considered ‘rent poor’, the number of mentions of ‘rent’ on social media in 2016 surpassed that of ‘jeonse’, a type of lease unique to South Korea, according to a report conducted by Daumsoft, a South Korean artificial intelligence-based big data analytics company.
In 2011, the number of times ‘jeonse’ and ‘rent’ were mentioned 231,509 and 145,262 times, respectively, unlike in 2016 when rent was mentioned 257,400 times, surpassing jeonse at 250,645.
The change in keyword trends reflects the growing number of single households living in rented accommodation in South Korea in the face of extremely high jeonse deposits and housing prices.
In the meantime, the number of times keywords such as ‘buying a house’ were mentioned on blogs, Twitter and news media outlets dropped from 52,534 times in 2015 to 48,810 times last year.
As the odds of climbing the housing ladder become higher by the year for young people, the recent shift in popular keywords mirrors the fact that more Koreans are discussing housing issues online than ever before, while the conversation of home ownership takes a backseat.
Other negative keywords that have been increasingly used on social media are ‘loan’ and ‘burden’.
In 2015, the number of posts or comments that used both words amounted to 62,177, which jumped to 71,847 the following year.
As of now, the two terms have been mentioned over 66,000 times to date this year.
Interestingly, ‘marriage’ was the word most commonly used in conjunction with home ownership this year, but was only the 19th most popular keyword back in 2015.
“The findings are a mere reflection of the current situation where buying a house before marriage has become extremely difficult due to the growing sum of deposit required for jeonse contracts and high housing prices,” Daumsoft said.
Restricted by housing contracts, an increasing number of residents in rented accommodation are turning to interior design to express their creativity and individuality, according to the report.
The keywords ‘self interior’, often used to refer to self-taught interior design in South Korea, were searched for 27,495 times, nearly a five-fold jump from 2011.
A recent report has revealed the most popular keywords used by South Koreans on social media in recent years, a list that includes ‘rent’, ‘loan’, and ‘self interior’. (Image: Kobiz Media)
“With the prospect of home ownership out of sight, young Koreans are showing interest in interior design as they follow the ‘YOLO’ philosophy in which people are willing to spend money to find happiness in the present moment.
“The trend of people finding accommodation within their means instead of owning a home is expected to continue,” the big data analytics company said.
Hyunsu Yim (hyunsu@koreabizwire.com)
