October 2, 2022
THIS WEEK IN HUMAN RIGHTS NEWS
Banjiha & Seoul’s housing crisis
Sources: BBC, The Guardian
Bong Joon-ho’s globally acclaimed film Parasite (2019) brought the world’s attention closer to banjiha - semi-basement homes in Seoul - that represent the city’s greater housing crisis. The city is moving slowly to phase out these mostly-underground, and sometimes fatal, housing conditions.
Banjiha began as basements required by law in construction projects amidst North and South Korean tensions in the 1970s, as reported by BBC. People were originally not allowed to inhabit them, but as Seoul’s demand for housing crept up in the 1980s, laws were relaxed to allow them to be rented as living spaces.
The Guardian reported there were ‘200,000 semi-basement flats in 2020, comprising 5% of all households in the city.’ The homes are very small and light does not reach into them easily. As a result, mould is often a problem for residents. Additionally, inhabitants of banjihas often face social stigma as a result of their residences.
In August, three people drowned in their banjiha apartment during a flood as emergency workers were unable to reach them. The city responded by announcing a plan to end the construction of banjiha and eventually convert current ones into non-liveable spaces such as storage. The proposal, however, gives landlords 10 to 20 years for conversion. The question of building new, and safer, apartments for the people currently living in banjiha also needs to be addressed.
While the social stigma of living in a banjiha continues in South Korean society, some inhabitants have no choice but to make these semi-basements their home due to steep costs of living. The latter has also led young people to rent banjiha as short-term accommodation to save money and eventually buy a home.
Beyond the social stigma often attached to banjiha, the housing conditions of semi-basements pose serious health and safety hazards and are indicative of a larger, more systemic issue within Seoul’s flawed housing market, as well as the importance of upholding the right to safe and affordable living conditions.