Seoul slum life in the shadow of ‘Gangnam Style’

S KOREA: Shadowed by the high-rises of Seoul’s wealthiest Gangnam district, Kim Bok-Ja, 75, pulls her trolley of folded cardboard through a shanty town that sits uncomfortably in one of Asia’s most developed cities.

At a local recycling yard, Kim smiles thinly as she counts out the meagre cash return she gets for the load of boxes and packaging she spent all day collecting.

“This is all I can do to survive, probably up until I die, because I live alone with no proper income,” she said.

Kim’s home is Guryong -- a squalid, sprawling slum of plywood and tarpaulin shacks settled in 1988 by squatters evicted from other areas in a push to beautify Seoul as it prepared to host the Olympic Games.

Nearly 25 years later, Guryong (which translates as “Nine Dragons”) has more than 2,000 residents scrabbling out a subsistence living with Third World poverty levels and little or no proper sanitation. It’s about as far removed as possible from the opulent, glitzy world of neighbouring Gangnam -- an upscale district of luxury boutiques and night clubs made famous by South Korean rapper Psy’s global hit, “Gangnam Style”.

Taxi drivers have difficulty locating Guryong, although it is only separated from Gangnam by a six-lane highway and covers an area of 70 acres (30 hectares). “Our village is Seoul’s biggest slum settlement but it will not appear on any maps,” said Lee In, the 59-year-old deputy head of the Guryong residents’ council.

A significant portion of residents are in their 70s or 80s and live alone, most of them without any sort of state assistance.

“Many are engaged in rough work or odd jobs to earn their daily living,” Lee said. “The fact they don’t starve is largely down to help from volunteers and religious groups.” One of the many notable aspects of Guryong is the number of wooden crosses visible on the low-rise roofline, marking dozens of ramshackle churches that cater to the community. AFP