Right to age in place
Korea has become a super-aged society as its baby boomers grow older. According to Ministry of Data and Statistics, people aged 65 and over account for approximately 21.6 percent of the population in 2026.
Older residents with mobility difficulties, stairs are more than an inconvenience: They pose a serious risk of falls. Stairs restrict their daily activities and may even leave them confined to their homes against their wishes.
Without elevators or home lifts, remaining in familiar surroundings becomes increasingly difficult. Some are eventually forced to move into nursing facilities or elevator-equipped housing, despite their desire to age in place.
Consider the case of Yang Sung-hak, an older resident of Anyang, Gyeonggi Province. After leaving his apartment life behind, he moved into his dream country home. But his dream turned into a nightmare when, in his mid-70s, he fell on the stairs and fractured his leg and lower back.
Installing a home lift has proved difficult. Building regulations involving fire resistance and floor-area calculations complicate the options, while neighbors oppose an external lift.
Yang has petitioned the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare through the government's e-People portal. He is asking authorities to accommodate the structural limitations of existing homes without compromising safety.
His predicament illustrates a broader policy gap. As demand for accessible housing grows, the Korean government should swiftly adopt and implement the European safety standard EN 81-41 for vertical lifting platforms designed for people with impaired mobility.
The government should also review whether existing legal classifications and safety regulations adequately accommodate modern home lifts and reform outdated building regulations that unnecessarily hinder their safe installation in existing homes.
An industry expert with extensive experience in home lift installation has encountered similar frustrations throughout his career.
"Through many years in the elevator industry, I have heard from people who desperately need lifts but struggle to install them in their existing homes,” he said. “We must protect safety while removing unnecessary regulatory barriers to vertical mobility.”
He argues that homeowners should be allowed to install certified home lifts wherever adequate space and essential safety requirements permit.
Korea can also learn from overseas approaches, including Singapore's efforts to improve accessibility for older residents.
Four priorities deserve attention: building public consensus that accessibility is a shared responsibility; providing targeted subsidies to ease financial burdens; allowing technically appropriate solutions for existing buildings; and eliminating unnecessary restrictions without weakening essential safety standards.
Regulatory reform should not mean abandoning fire safety, structural integrity or neighbors' legitimate concerns. It should mean creating clear, proportionate rules that enable safe installations rather than making them practically impossible.
Ultimately, this debate is about more than elevators. It is about protecting the ability of older adults to remain in their homes and ensuring that stairs do not determine who can live independently.
The writer is a former city desk reporter of The Korea Times.