Woelse and Cheonse System in South Korea
These are two different and rather unique systems for paying rent in South Korea. I don't know why I dug up this info and put it into a text file. Its quite different from the way we pay rent here or buy houses in Singapore.
Woelse is a system where you put down a deposit (Bojeungeum / 보증금 /key money) and on top of that pay a monthly rent. Generally, the higher the deposit, the lower your rent. You get your deposit back when you leave.
If you see a realtor's ad like this:
- 월세
- 2방
- 200 / 40
This means a 2 room apartment for 20 million won deposit at 400,000 a month rent.
Cheonse is a system where you put down a huge deposit (typically over 100 million won, but one rooms can be had for 50-60 depending on the area) and don't pay any monthly rent. You get your deposit back when you leave.
If you see a realtor's ad like this:
- 천세
- 2방
- 1억
This means a 2 room apartment for 100 million won deposit.
There may be a govt registration process (mentioned above) that does offer a degree of protection for cheonsae -- up to 20 million won depending on location