Located next to the flashy, affluent neighbourhood of Gangnam where apartments cost as much as 4.8 billion won ($3.9 million), the cramped slum of Guryong village is a symbol of inequality in Asia's fourth-largest economy.
Below are some details about the Guryong village:
WHERE IS GURYONG VILLAGE? Located at the southern end of the Gangnam district, Guryong village is the largest cluster of unlicensed, makeshift homes in Seoul.
HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVE THERE? The ward office that oversees Guryong village estimates around 1,000 people from 665 households are still living there. Some 150 households are classified in the lowest income brackets. Many more people used to call Guryong home, but hundreds of households were relocated as the government cleared space for redevelopment.
HOW BIG IS IT? Guryong village covers around 260,000 square metres (2.8 million square feet), an area the size of 36 soccer pitches.
WHAT ARE ITS ORIGINS? The slum sprang up during the 1980s, as many desperate people gravitated there after losing their homes during the rapid development of the capital to host the 1986 Asian Games and 1988 Seoul Olympics.
SAFETY, HEALTH CONCERNS: Cardboard and wood are used in the construction of most dwellings, making the village prone to fires and vulnerable to flooding. Many residents still heat their homes with briquettes.
REDEVELOPMENT PLANS: The Seoul government has rolled out renewal plans for the area but relocation has made little progress amid a decades-long tug of war between landowners, residents and authorities.
WHAT IS AT ISSUE? Seoul and Gangnam district authorities, and state-run developers have been at odds over how to compensate landowners in Guryong and have yet to agree whether slum dwellers, most of whom are squatters, are entitled to government support for relocation and housing.
($1 = 1,235.7700 won)
(Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi and Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
By Soo-hyang Choi
