{"id":2199939,"date":"2023-01-23T08:59:21","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T08:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/koreapro\/?p=2199939"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:10:18","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:10:18","slug":"how-lack-of-redevelopment-provided-tinder-for-a-fire-in-seouls-last-shanty-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/01\/how-lack-of-redevelopment-provided-tinder-for-a-fire-in-seouls-last-shanty-town\/","title":{"rendered":"How lack of redevelopment provided tinder for a fire in Seoul\u2019s last shantytown"},"content":{"rendered":"
In the early hours of Jan. 20, just before 6:30 a.m., a blaze of unknown origin broke out in Guryong Village, one of Seoul\u2019s last remaining shanty villages. It took 900 firefighters to extinguish the fire, but it consumed at least 60 of the villagers\u2019 dwellings before they did.<\/span><\/p>\n The fire originated on the periphery of Seoul\u2019s most expensive neighborhood, Gangnam. Although apartment prices in all Gangnam neighborhoods <\/span>declined slightly due to rate hikes<\/span><\/a> last fall, prices are still out of reach for many. This month, the rent for an officetel <\/span>\u2014 <\/span>a building used for commercial and residential purposes <\/span>\u2014<\/span> went on the market<\/span><\/a> for $366 (450,000 KRW) per week.<\/span><\/p>\n The contrast between Gangnam and Guryong Village could not be starker. While Gangnam points to an aspirational future of capitalist consumption and economic power, living conditions in Guryong mimic those of urban slums found across less developed countries.<\/span><\/p>\n Guryong thus stands as something of an anachronism in contemporary South Korea, a remnant of the country\u2019s much poorer past and a byproduct of ill-conceived urban planning. The fire that broke out on Friday, far from the first disaster to devastate the shantytown, shone a bright light on repeated failures to redevelop the area to prevent such accidents \u2014 and on the poorest of the poor left out of the country\u2019s economic Cinderella story.<\/span><\/p>\n