SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - A shantytown, others may call it. For those who stayed as their neighbors moved away, Guryong Village was home — a place where lives had taken root, however fragile the walls around them.
By dawn Wednesday, fire had consumed swaths of the settlement tucked into Seoul’s affluent Gangnam district. It took nearly 13 hours to put out the flames. What would become of the lives they had uprooted was far less certain.
One man in his 70s had been asleep after taking medication for a pelvic injury when the fire reached him.
"When I opened my eyes, the fire was already at my feet," the District 2 resident recalled. "Did I have time to take anything? No."
He escaped. His wallet, personal documents and the possessions gathered over a lifetime did not.
Then came the search for somewhere to spend the night.
By the time he reached an emergency accommodation facility, he said, the available motel rooms were taken. He was directed to a nearby middle school serving as a temporary shelter.
"I really don't know what to do now," he said.
His uncertainty extends beyond the first night. Gangnam District has arranged hotel rooms and shelter space in the gymnasiums of Gaepo and Guryong middle schools for an initial seven days, along with emergency relief supplies.
What follows remains undecided.
A district official told AJP on Wednesday that authorities would review residents’ circumstances toward the end of the initial support period and discuss any extension with Seoul’s public housing developer, SH.
The official acknowledged the difficulties facing displaced residents as winter approaches but said it was too early to commit to longer accommodation. Support had been extended after previous fires, the official added.
For residents, that offers a possibility rather than a place to settle.
This was Guryong’s second major fire this year. In January, flames swept through Districts 4, 5 and 6, forcing hundreds to evacuate. Seoul
subsequently announced plans to secure at least 80 emergency housing units for stays of up to six months for residents unwilling to enter the existing relocation housing program.
Nine months later, another group of residents is confronting the same question: where can they rebuild their lives?
Even those whose homes survived are uneasy.
A 73-year-old woman in District 8 said she paid about 42 million won ($31,700) for her home 20 years ago. She said she had now been offered about 16 million won to leave as redevelopment proceeds and believed she would have to move before the end of the year.
"Who would have imagined something like this happening twice in one year?" she said. "I never thought so much of the village would burn."
She acknowledged the settlement’s troubled reputation and divisions among its residents. Neither, she said, should obscure what it means to lose a home.
"We're people, too," she said. "Losing the place where you've lived is heartbreaking."
"If we had money, we wouldn't be living here in the first place."
Guryong has been gradually emptying as redevelopment advances. According to Seoul’s figures for Oct. 15, 950 of the original 1,107 households had relocated, leaving 157. SH put the number still awaiting relocation at about 140 on Wednesday.
The latest fire has accelerated the loss of homes without resolving the disputes over where their occupants should go.
SH offers temporary relocation housing with security deposits waived and rents reduced by 60 to 100 percent, depending on income.
Some residents have rejected the terms, citing concerns about compensation and whether they will be able to return after redevelopment.
An SH public relations official told AJP that the corporation continues to encourage residents to accept its rental housing while pursuing eviction lawsuits involving those who have yet to move.
Applications remain open and will be accepted until construction begins, the official said.
Asked about the District 8 woman’s understanding that she must leave by year-end, the official said SH could not confirm her individual deadline from the information provided.
The redevelopment timetable remains unchanged despite the fire, with construction targeted to begin in 2027.
The hillside settlement is to be replaced by a complex of 3,739 homes, including 1,107 integrated public rental units intended to accommodate existing residents.
For those who have just lost their homes, however, a future apartment complex does not answer the immediate question of where they will sleep next week.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Wednesday that it would work with Seoul and other agencies to arrange housing assistance.
It pointed to an existing emergency program under which people who lose their homes in disasters can receive Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) rental housing free of charge for two years.
LH also has 100 modular homes in reserve. Local governments can request them, subject to arrangements for land, installation and other necessary procedures.
Specific allocations and move-in dates for the Guryong fire victims have yet to be announced.
For Cheon Young-hwan, a District 1 resident born in 1952, the flames stopped just short of taking his home. The outdoor toilet beside it burned to ashes.
He has watched neighbors leave over the years as redevelopment gradually emptied the village. Now he worries that another fire will bring a brief surge of attention, followed by the familiar silence.
"For a while, people will pay attention to us," he said. "But as time goes by, we'll be forgotten again."
When the makeshift homes eventually give way to apartment buildings, he fears the community’s history will disappear with them.
"Only those of us who are over 70 will remember this place," he said.
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