Efforts to rein in house prices are fuelling discontent in Seoul

JUDGING FROM the chatter on the streets of Gangnam, it is a bad time to buy property in the South Korean capital. “It’s been a nightmare looking for an apartment,” says Lee, a 30-year-old who lives in a rented studio in the glitzy district in southern Seoul. “I think about what to buy and where and a month later the price has gone up by 20%.” Although he has a good job at a big company and is planning to buy with his girlfriend, he worries they’ll have to keep renting for now. “The government says they want to fight the rich, but actually they’re hitting the middle class.”