Even though it was home for over 70 years, truck driver Lee Jong-yeol was forcibly evicted from his central Seoul townhouse in Sept. 2018. After being beaten up by thugs who he says were working for redevelopers and having his possessions sold in what he claims was a mandatory auction.

Like many citizens living in older parts of the South Korean capital, Lee’s Ahyeon-dong neighborhood was part of an area earmarked for major redevelopment in the early 2000s.