Korea Apartment Types Explained: Officetel, Villa, Apartment, Goshiwon

Listing words are not legal categories

Korean listings often use everyday labels: apartment (아파트), villa (빌라), officetel (오피스텔), goshiwon (고시원), oneroom (원룸), tworoom (투룸). Some are legal categories. Some are layouts or marketing labels.

Before signing, compare the listing label with the building register (건축물대장) and property registry (등기부등본). The legal category can affect address reporting, lease protection, senior-deposit risk, and the documents you should check.

Apartment (아파트)

Under the Building Act Enforcement Decree, apartment (아파트) means housing with 5 or more floors used for housing.

Apartments are usually large managed complexes, but the legal point is the building category, not the amenities. Deposit safety still depends on the property registry, address record, confirmed date, and lease-reporting status.

Villa (빌라): check the actual category

Villa (빌라) is not a single legal category. It usually points to low-rise residential stock, but the building record may say 연립주택, 다세대주택, 다가구주택, or something else.

The distinctions:

• Row house (연립주택): 4 or fewer housing floors, with total floor area above the 다세대 threshold.
• Multi-household housing (다세대주택): 4 or fewer housing floors, with total floor area of 660 sqm or less.
• Multi-family housing (다가구주택): a detached-housing category with 3 housing floors or fewer, 19 households or fewer, and total floor area of 660 sqm or less.

The 다세대 vs 다가구 distinction matters for deposit checks. In 다가구 housing, ask about senior tenant deposits and senior rights before paying a deposit, because the building can operate as one combined risk pool.

Officetel (오피스텔)

Officetel sits in two legal frames at once:

• The Building Act Enforcement Decree lists officetel under business facilities (업무시설).
• The Housing Act Enforcement Decree lists officetel as quasi-housing (준주택).

That combination is why the building-register label alone does not answer every lease question. Ask whether the lease supports residential use, foreigner address reporting, confirmed date, lease reporting if required, and ordinary housing-lease protection.

Easy Law explains that the Housing Lease Protection Act applies to leases of residential buildings. Court doctrine also looks at actual use, not only the public-record label, when deciding whether a place is residential. For an officetel lease, get the residential-use and address-reporting answer in writing.

Goshiwon (고시원)

Goshiwon is a small-room multi-living format. Seoul's ordinance requires covered rooms to provide at least 7 sqm of exclusive room area, or 9 sqm if a private toilet is inside the room, and to include an outside-facing window.

The caution is scope. The Seoul rule applies to covered new construction and substantial repair. Older rooms may differ, and other local governments may have different local standards. Inspect the room itself, check window and fire-safety basics, and ask what stay proof the operator can provide.

Oneroom and tworoom

Oneroom (원룸) and tworoom (투룸) describe layouts, not legal building categories. A oneroom can be an officetel unit, a villa unit, a 다세대 unit, a 다가구 room, or another arrangement.

When a listing says "oneroom," ask what the building register says. The layout tells you how the room feels. The legal category tells you what to verify.

Deposit protection still comes from records

Housing labels do not protect deposits by themselves. For a formal lease, check:

• Property registry (등기부등본): owner and registered rights.
• Building register (건축물대장): legal category and building details.
• Address reporting: whether your foreigner place-of-stay record can be filed at that address.
• Confirmed date (확정일자): whether you can obtain it or file the lease report if covered.
• Senior deposits: especially in 다가구 housing.

For foreign residents, Immigration Act Article 88-2 says foreigner registration and place-of-stay change reporting substitute for resident registration and move-in reporting. Easy Law explains that opposition rights arise from the next day after delivery of the home and resident registration, and that priority repayment rights require the opposition requirements plus a confirmed date.

Simple comparison

Sources

Accessed June 6, 2026.

• Building Act Enforcement Decree Appendix 1: law.go.kr
• Easy Law, housing-type concepts: easylaw.go.kr
• Housing Act Enforcement Decree Article 4, quasi-housing scope: law.go.kr
• Seoul Mediahub, goshiwon room standard: mediahub.seoul.go.kr
• Easy Law, Housing Lease Protection Act scope: easylaw.go.kr
• Supreme Court precedent, actual-use test for housing leases: law.go.kr
• Easy Law, opposition rights and confirmed date: easylaw.go.kr
• Immigration Act Article 88-2: law.go.kr

@misc{seoulstart-korea-apartment-types,
  author = {{Seoulstart Editorial Team}},
  title = {{Korea Apartment Types Explained: Officetel, Villa, Apartment, Goshiwon}},
  year = {2026},
  publisher = {Seoulstart},
  url = {https://seoulstart.com/guides/korea-apartment-types},
  note = {Last updated June 6, 2026}
}