Han Jeoung-ae, chair of the Democratic Party of Korea's Policy Committee, speaks during a press briefing at the National Assembly on Sunday. (Yonhap) The ruling Democratic Party of Korea on Sunday apologized for a lawmaker's controversial proposal to convert discarded buses into housing for young people, dismissing the idea as "virtually impossible to implement."Rep. Han Jeoung-ae, chair of the party's Policy Committee, described the proposal by Democratic Party Rep. Hwang Hee as an "idea-level suggestion" and asked the public to regard the controversy as a mishap."It has almost no feasibility and is practically impossible," Han said at a press briefing at the National Assembly on Sunday.Hwang had suggested in a Facebook post Friday that decommissioned buses could be remodeled into living spaces and provided as short-term accommodation for young people near universities.Han said Hwang appeared to have drawn inspiration from houseboats commonly found in parts of Europe."There are many houseboats in places like the Netherlands, where there are canals, or in European countries where rainfall is consistent throughout the year. I think he was speaking along those lines," she said."This is impossible in Korea due to the extremely different conditions in summer and winter," Han added. "There is also no idle land where something like that could be placed. If there were idle land, it would be far better to simply build homes there."Han apologized for the proposal, saying that it trivialized the housing difficulties facing young Koreans.She added that the party takes the youth housing shortage "very seriously" and is working to expand supply through various measures such as youth housing near subway stations and other forms of public housing.Han also stressed the need for cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and suggested greater use of modular construction to speed up housing supply. Modular construction is a building method in which standardized sections are manufactured off-site in a factory and then transported to a site for rapid assembly.For youth housing and other non-apartment projects, this method could be made a requirement and supported with government funding to significantly shorten construction periods, she said.Hwang deleted his original Facebook post after it sparked criticism. He later uploaded another post saying he had been told that young people found the proposal offensive, but he later deleted that post as well.