South Korea's latest housing-support package has sharpened debate over whether age-based policy design is creating a steep divide among non-homeowners. The government on the 13th unveiled its "Aug. 13 housing measures," and the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said on the 18th that three new policy-finance products for non-homeowning young adults aged 39 or under will launch in January. The main product, the Youth Future Bogeumjari Loan, would allow first-time buyers aged 39 or under to borrow up to 80% under the loan-to-value (LTV, borrowing limit against home value) ratio when buying a non-apartment home of 85 square meters or less priced at 400 million won ($288,000) or below, with eligibility capped at annual income of 70 million won. The package also adds a youth combined jeonse-and-monthly-rent guarantee, with jeonse referring to Korea's lump-sum lease system, and raises the age ceiling for the existing youth special jeonse loan guarantee from 34 to 39 starting in October this year. Officials say the measures are meant to help young single-person households spending about 1 million won a month on housing move into small homes such as officetels (small live-work studio units), detached houses or similar properties while paying principal and interest below monthly rent. But the age-39 threshold has become the focal point of a backlash from non-homeowners in their 40s and 50s, who remain excluded from youth-targeted policy finance and rent support even when their housing status is the same. Experts and the opposition party say middle-aged households, especially those raising school-age children, fall into a policy blind spot. Financial authorities argue that people aged 40 and over can still use existing policy mortgages and eased LTV rules, and say support is being concentrated on younger adults because they have not yet built up income and assets and need housing stability at key life stages such as marriage and childbirth. Some analysts say long-term non-homeowners in their 40s and 50s could still benefit indirectly if new building sites in the greater Seoul area and broader general sales of new homes improve the odds that their accumulated subscription points lead to home ownership, though the Aug. 13 measures do not include any new policy mortgage specifically for that age group.