Seoul seen from the fringeFEW buildings in Seoul were left standing in 1953 after the Korean war had ravaged the city. Since then it has seen relentless construction. Office blocks were built on land cleared of slums, and traditional homes replaced by blocks of flats. The mayor, Park Won-soon, deplores this “reckless” development and wants to save what he can of Seoul’s heritage: historic buildings and also some shanty-towns.
One such is Baeksa village, which has clung to the flanks of Mount Buram since the 1960s. It was built by the first wave of Seoul’s displaced urban poor. Each family got a small plot of land and 200 bricks.
Over 2,000 people still live in the sloping streets of the village. Little has changed since 1967, when Lee Sang-ko arrived. Now in her 50s, she lives alone. One of her children has moved, as many do, to the city. Ms Lee’s house is made of cinder blocks and a corrugated-iron roof. She farms a small garden and shares an outdoor privy with neighbours.
There have long been plans to raze these hillside hamlets, known as daldongnae, or moon villages, for...Continue reading
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