In the Gaepo Middle School gymnasium, 38 people from 29 households were staying in an emergency shelter Wednesday after a fire swept through nearby Guryong Village, Seoul's last shantytown.
Another 50 people from 24 households took refuge at Guryong Middle School, while others were staying with acquaintances or at nearby lodging facilities arranged by the district office.
The blaze affected 107 residents from 77 households before firefighters extinguished it early Wednesday, nearly 13 hours after it began. One woman suffered a minor leg injury.
Residents can stay at the shelters for about a week, after which they are encouraged to move into rental apartments provided by SH, Seoul’s public housing developer.
For a woman who has lived in Guryong since 1988, however, the offer falls short of what she wants after decades in the settlement.
"We’ve lived through floods and fires in Guryong Village. We can’t just be pushed out like this. What I want is the right to buy an apartment, not a rental home. We’ve spent years making this place our home," the woman told The Korea Herald as she was leaving the shelter to visit the village with her 41-year-old son.
A 70-year-old woman who has lived in Seoul’s Guryong Village since her 30s fled Tuesday’s fire without even taking a pair of socks. A day later, she was refusing to move into SH rental housing.
“This is my home,” she told The Korea Herald on Wednesday. “It may look shabby and rundown, but it’s my home. I feel comfortable here.”
As residents sought shelter after the blaze, interviews with those still living in the village revealed different reasons for resisting relocation, from attachment to their longtime homes to demands for a chance to own an apartment in the planned development.
SH acquired the land last year and aims to begin construction in the first half of 2027, once the remaining households have relocated. The redevelopment plan includes 1,107 public rental homes for former village residents, alongside long-term jeonse rental housing and homes for sale.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government says relocating residents are offered public rental housing, with rent reduced by 60 to 100 percent depending on income.
Some remaining residents are seeking a path to homeownership instead, either through the right to purchase an apartment or rental housing they can later buy.
“There are currently 140 households yet to relocate, many of whom are demanding the right to purchase and own apartments in the new complex,” an SH official told The Korea Herald.
At a free meal station in the village on Wednesday, small groups of residents gathered, including people who had returned from shelters to check on their homes.
One resident sitting beside a heater questioned how long the support offered to relocating residents would last.
“They say they’ll give us rental housing and reduce the rent if we leave, but how long will that last? Once Guryong Village is redeveloped, we’ll be forgotten,” the resident said.
“They say rental apartments will be built here so we can return, but that could change by then.”
The planned public rental homes have done little to reassure residents such as Lee Kang-il, a leader of a village residents’ group.
“Even after the village is cleared up, we won’t be able to return because they won’t let us,” Lee said.
SH says it is seeking residents’ agreement to move while pursuing legal proceedings to obtain possession of the properties. An official said it may consider eviction enforcement as a last resort if it wins.
Near the village entrance, tents stood outside the fire-damaged area. Some residents were staying there as they continued their campaign for housing rights.
“This is just the beginning of another fight. Some of those affected will move into rental apartments. Others will continue the fight here in these tents,” Lee said.
yunapark@heraldcorp.com
