THE poorer sections of South Korean society are struggling to get out of their shanties and step into the affluence of Seoul’s Gangnam district. It may be an impossible dream, because they continue dealing with economic inequality and an outcast social status, as well as the memory of a brutal military dictatorship that is proving difficult to heal.
Rising social inequality is most visible in the shanty village of Guryong that – oddly – lies within the upscale Gangnam. Some 2,400 people live in the slum in shelters made from plywood, metal, sheets of plastic and cardboard boxes amid the most expensive real estate in Seoul. The village was created in the 1980s when thousands of workers were thrown out of their homes by development projects to host the 1988 Olympic Games.
In addition, some 327,000 poor households lived in basements, known as banjiha, in 2020, that are dark and prone to flooding, according to South Korean government data. The vast majority of the basement dwellers are concentrated in three major metropolitan areas – Seoul (61 per cent), Gyeonggi-do (27 per cent) and Incheon (7 per cent).
Then, there are the so-called jjokbang (slum apartments) in Seoul. Some of the structures are locally known as “beggars’ apartments”, as they are among the worst in the neighbourhood, without proper air-conditioning or ventilation. An adult is barely able to either lie down in a jjokbang or stand due to its low ceiling height.
Apart from Guryong, there are some 3,100 dwellers living in five jjokbang in the capital, according to Joonmo Kang and Ward Lyle in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (April 2025). These tiny homes are usually used by single-person households, students and low-income individuals. The number of jjokbang residents is believed to be much higher, as there is no official census of these areas.
The 1997 Asian financial crisis brought the jjokbang areas under the spotlight, as the downturn caused massive job losses and rising homelessness. The five jjokbang settlements in Seoul were originally low-cost inns or brothels that sprang up near central bus or train stations.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
At present, jjokbang serve as housing for poor, male and older adults who live alone. A snapshot of their financial woes shows that more than 70 per cent of jjokbang residents receive government aid, as their income is 30 per cent lower than the national median.
The socio-economic troubles of Koreans are showcased in the works of two accomplished South Koreans: Han Kang, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2024, who portrays the military dictatorship and its economic impact; and Bong Joon-ho, director of the Academy Award-winning movie Parasite, which depicts the struggles of the basement-dwelling underclass.
At the centre of Han’s ire is the city of Gwangju, located in the south-west of the country. It was where she was born and about which she wrote extensively, particularly in her book Human Acts about the Gwangju uprising and brutal massacre of students by the South Korean military in 1980.
The introduction of Human Acts reflects on the past, noting that South Korea had been “a heap of dry tinder” since early 1980, when just a few months earlier, the military strongman Park Chung-hee had been assassinated, ending his rule that began when he came to power in a coup in 1961.
Under authoritarian rule, Park transformed the country from “dirt poor” to the “Miracle on the Han River”, and imposed martial law in some places in May 1980. There were isolated demonstrations in response to the martial law, but by and large they gave the authorities no cause for concern.
The assassination was no victory for democracy, Han’s introduction explains, as Park’s protege, army general Chun Doo-hwan, stepped into his boss’ shoes. Chun expanded martial law to the entire country. He shut universities, banned political activity and further restricted press freedom.
The Han River Miracle had a dark side. Under cover of the predawn darkness on May 27, 1980, Chun ordered his military forces to crush a popular uprising of civilians in Gwangju using tanks, armoured personnel carriers and helicopters. The military took just two hours to do the job. The government claimed that about 200 people were killed in the rebellion, the majority of them civilians, but Gwangju citizens and students insist that the number was closer to 2,000.
In her memoir-like novel, Human Acts, Han writes about military men carrying dead and half-dead bodies: “Every time they came by, the tower of bodies covered by the straw sack would be added to. Bodies with their skulls crushed and cratered, shoulders dislocated.”
Although the country did not move towards democracy until 1987, the aftershock of the violence in Gwangju led to democratic change that made Chun the last dictator.
The introduction to Human Acts puts it in perspective: “It wasn’t until 1997 that the massacre was officially mentioned”, and “disputing the official figure (of those killed by the military) was initially punishable by arrest”.
Further, the book explains the squalid underbelly of the economic miracle: “Student demonstrations had their numbers swelled by those for whom the country’s miraculous industrialisation had meant back-breaking work in hazardous conditions, and for whom recent unionisation had led to greater political awareness.”
In a similar way, film director Bong’s dark comedy Parasite portrays South Korean social inequality. It features the lives of the impoverished Kim family, who live in a cramped, basement apartment where they struggle to survive on low-paying, menial jobs. They cunningly infiltrate the wealthy Park household, each member securing a position by deception. The contrast between the Kims’ living conditions and the Parks’ extravagant mansion-like home demonstrates the economic divide in South Korean society.
Many South Koreans cannot aspire to the Gangnam lifestyle, which remains a distant dream.
The Korea Times noted in a January 2025 article that the county is witnessing “a troubling rise in income inequality”, with the “gap between the wealthiest and the most impoverished households expanding at an alarming pace”.
Statistics Korea reports that the average annual income of the wealthiest group is more than 210 million won (S$198,100), while the bottom 10 per cent earn only 13 million won.
The chasm is also seen in the performance of South Korean businesses. The Korea Times reports that while large corporations are thriving, small and medium-sized enterprises are struggling to survive.
The production index for large companies rose by 5.2 per cent in 2023 from the previous year, marking the highest growth rate since 2015. In contrast, the index for SMEs declined by 0.9 per cent in the same period. The disparity worsens the financial stability of workers who depend on small businesses for their livelihoods.
And while the physical distance between the two towns – Gangnam and Guryong – may be measured in a couple of kilometres, they are light years apart in their socio-economic status.
The Yoon Suk-yeol administration sought to tackle the crisis of disparity, but its initiatives were undone by political instability during a short-lived martial law declaration by Yoon on Dec 3, 2024, that led to his impeachment.
Many Koreans believe that the Yoon government’s policies actually worsened the socio-economic divide, by easing regulations in the real estate sector and maintaining high interest rates that disproportionately benefited the wealthy and increased the financial burden on ordinary people. To make matters worse, the martial law declaration negatively impacted consumer and business confidence.
The government has been urged to support vulnerable groups, such as small businesses, self-employed individuals and low-income workers, by adopting policies that tackle inequality at its root, such as rising commodity prices, lack of new jobs and plummeting competitiveness of SMEs.
South Korea’s new president Lee Jae-myung – Yoon’s replacement who is himself facing charges over alleged election law violations – held his first Cabinet meeting on Jun 5 to create an emergency package, to address stagnating economic growth and aid households. But it remained unclear whether the package would help the slum dwellers. Given South Korea’s history of social turmoil, fresh unrest may erupt if economic inequality is left to fester.
The writer is editor-in-chief of Rising Asia Journal (http://www.rajraf.org)
