Tracker › Local rental types › Korean gosiwon
Gosiwon (고시원) and goshitel in South Korea
Comparison page: South Korea is outside the six markets we track record by record. It is here to compare with Southeast Asia's local rental types.
A gosiwon (고시원) is a building of very small rooms, rented by the month, often with shared bathrooms and kitchen and little or no deposit. The name comes from students preparing for state exams (고시, gosi). Versions with private bathrooms are often marketed as goshitel (고시텔) or one-room-tel (원룸텔). This is a comparison page: Korea is not one of our six tracked markets.
What is 고시원 in English?
| Local term | In English | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 고시원 (gosiwon) | exam-study lodging; tiny rented room | A very small room, rented monthly, often with no deposit. | Gobang (gosiwon listings) (21 Oct 2026) |
| 고시텔 / 원룸텔 | goshitel / one-room-tel | Gosiwon-style rooms, usually with a private bathroom. | Gobang (gosiwon listings) (21 Oct 2026) |
Who rents it and for how long
Who: Students, exam candidates, low-income workers and newcomers to Seoul, including foreigners.
Typical stay: Monthly, often with no deposit.
Key figures
- Goshiwons.com showed listings from ₩500,000 to ₩530,000 a month (seen 21 Oct 2026; the site later timed out from our checker). [source, 21 Oct 2026]
- The National Fire Agency counted 2,026 gosiwon of 500 m² or more among 31,271 lodging-type facilities (korea.kr, 11 Aug 2025). [source, 11 Aug 2025]
Rules
- After the Nov 2018 Gukil Gosiwon fire (7 dead), an amended law required simple sprinklers in all gosiwon, including those opened before 2009, by 30 Jun 2022. It took effect on 10 Dec 2020 (Yonhap, 8 Jun 2020). [source, 8 Jun 2020]
- Seoul ordinance from 1 Jul 2022 for new, extended or converted gosiwon: rooms of at least 7 m² (9 m² with a toilet) and a window to the outside of at least 0.5 m × 1 m (Yonhap, 4 Jan 2022). [source, 4 Jan 2022]
Main operators
Gosiwon are mostly run by small independent operators.
Where to find listings
| Site | What it lists | Status (checked) | Tranco rank* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gobang | Gosiwon and one-room-tel listings (Korean) | live (HTTP 200) (21 Oct 2026) | #788,933 |
| Goshiwons | Gosiwon listings with English guides | timed out from our checker on 21 Oct 2026 (21 Oct 2026) | not in top 1M |
* Tranco top-1M list, 18 Oct 2026: a rough guide to site traffic, not an endorsement. Sites are listed alphabetically. Status is from an automated check; "blocks automated checks" means the site refused our checker but is public.
Related: Japan: share houses and monthly mansions · Co-living in Southeast Asia
Sources checked 21 Oct 2026. See an error? Email hello@sealivingdesk.com.