Economy Talk

Foreigners always confused by Korea's jeonse system, so let me try explain

In Korea there is a rental system called jeonse. You give the landlord a big deposit, often a large part of the house price, and you pay no monthly rent. At the end of the contract you get the deposit back.

The landlord uses the deposit to invest or buy another house. So it works when house prices go up. When prices fall, sometimes landlord cannot return the money, and that is a big problem for young people.

Many of my friends now choose monthly rent (wolse) instead, even if it is more expensive overall, because it feels safer. I think the system is slowly changing. Do other countries have something like this?