Lee Seung-gun, CEO of Viva Republica, the operator of fintech super app Toss, is at the center of a growing debate over youth housing and the boundaries of corporate welfare after his "bold pledge" made on April Fools' Day was dramatically scaled back within 24 hours.
"100 Employees · Lifetime" → "10 Employees · 1 Year"…Pledge Changed in a Day
In the early hours of April 1, Lee posted a message on the company's internal messenger saying he would sell his home and use the proceeds to cover monthly rent and loan interest payments for 100 Toss employees for life.
"Even before I founded the company, I felt a sense of injustice about this absurdity — where some people make huge profits from real estate while others struggle to survive because of housing costs," he explained. He added, "I wanted to sell the home that became No. 1 in assessed value and resolve this contradiction."
Lee's residence, Eterno Cheongdam, is widely regarded as a symbol of Korea's most expensive residential properties. According to this year's official apartment assessed price data released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the 464.11-square-meter unit at Eterno Cheongdam was valued at 32.57 billion won ($23.7 million), up 12.51 billion won (62.4%) from the previous year, ranking No. 1 nationwide for the second consecutive year.
"Brilliant Leader vs. Marketing Stunt"…Mixed Reactions and Recurring April Fools' Controversy
The pledge was extraordinary in both scale and message. Lifetime housing support for 100 employees was virtually unprecedented among Korean corporate welfare programs. Online communities quickly filled with praise, with comments such as "What a brilliant leader" and "I want to work at a company like this."
But the mood shifted that same evening when the actual implementation plan was revealed. The number of beneficiaries was reduced from 100 to 10, and the duration was cut from lifetime to one year. The funding method also changed — instead of selling his home, Lee said he would initially use personal funds and later redirect real estate gains.
Ultimately, Lee decided to fulfill the pledge by randomly selecting 10 employees and covering their monthly rent and loan interest for one year. According to financial industry sources, the support is being funded entirely from Lee's personal expenses.
Toss offered a partial explanation of the controversy. A Toss spokesperson said, "The CEO has posted messages around this time every year, but whether it is an April Fools' event is not shared in advance." The spokesperson added, "Looking at past examples, these have been events expressing gratitude toward colleagues."
Lee has indeed carried out similar April Fools' events in previous years. In 2022, he mentioned providing 20 Tesla vehicles before scaling it back to one-year free leases for 10 employees. Last year, he offered trips to Okinawa, Japan, for 100 employees.
This time, however, the reaction went beyond a simple episode. The gap between expectation and reality in the scaling-back process was significant.
An analysis of all related reactions from April 1 to 2 conducted on April 3 using SomeTrend, a news and social media comment analysis platform operated by Vaiv Company, found that approximately 66% of comments were positive. However, 18% offered negative assessments, citing concerns such as "promotional stunt" and "creating a sense of deprivation among employees."
Notably, April 2 — when the scaled-back plan was revealed — recorded the highest ratio of negative sentiment compared to April 1, when positive reactions had dominated.
The Reality Exposed…A Debate Born of Youth Housing Insecurity
The debate naturally extended to Korea's housing reality. According to the Korean Statistical Information Service, approximately 990,000 households headed by people aged 39 or younger living in Seoul did not own homes as of 2024. During the same period, the average monthly apartment rent in Seoul hit a record high of 1.515 million won. As jeonse (lump-sum deposit lease) costs rose, the lease renewal rate exceeded 50% for the first time.
Lee's pledge ultimately touched the intersection of "corporate welfare events" and "housing polarization." On one side, some say, "Supporting employees' housing costs with personal funds is meaningful enough." On the other, critics argue, "A structural problem was consumed as a personal event."
The April Fools' pledge, scaled back within a day, did not end as a simple episode. Rather, observers say it served as an occasion to resurface societal questions about youth housing insecurity, the role of corporations, and fairness.
