Guryong Village turns into battle zone

Kim Ok-im, a resident of "Guryong Village" in Gangnam, southern Seoul, cries in front of a destroyed community center, Friday.
/ Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Court order puts on ice development fight in Gangnam slums

By Jung Min-ho

The outcome of the fight looked predetermined.

An army of well-built men were trying to overcome a group of villagers, mostly old people, and destroy a community center in Guryong in southern Seoul Friday morning.

Against the backdrop of a forest of high-rise apartments in one of the nation's most expensive areas, the villagers were pulled away one by one.

"Now the people have nowhere to go," Kim Ok-im, who has lived in the area for 18 years, told The Korea Times.

However, at 10 a.m., the men were stopped and the machines turned off, thanks to a court decision.

The Seoul Administration Court ordered the Gangnam District Office to stop the operation until Feb. 13.

The decision was made at 10 a.m., two hours after some 500 demolition workers hired by the district office and three excavators had already taken apart about half of the center, making it appear uninhabitable.

"The Gangnam District Office workers started destroying the building at 8 a.m., even though they knew the court decision would come at 10 a.m.," Kim said.

Residents said the building was also used as a shelter for dozens of residents who had stayed there since a fire in the area burned down their homes three months ago.

Their belongings were placed outside the building before the excavators started pulling it down.

About 100 village residents, mostly old people, tried to block the machines; some laid on the ground and threatened to hurt themselves. But they were eventually pushed aside by the workers.

During the scuffle, there were lots of tears, screaming and cursing. But no major violence occurred, as police officers stood nearby.

Shin Yeon-hee, head of the district office, claimed that she decided to tear down the building because it was illegally used as a community center, not a market for agricultural goods as residents had registered for at the office.

But residents said the demolition work was a product of Shin's "venomous revenge" against them, because they have long been opposed to the office's redevelopment plans for the area.

While Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and Shin have been at odds for years over how to compensate the residents who would be displaced, the residents openly criticized Shin, calling her "an amazing office head who never talks to her people."

They supported Park's idea that part of the developed land should be reallocated to the residents, in lieu of cash compensation.

Shin, however, insisted that the land should be wholly purchased by the state-run developer to prevent special treatment for certain landowners.

Park eventually decided to accept the district office's demand because of safety concerns.

"Apparently, it is her revenge," Kim said. "After taking our criticism personally, she is trying to retaliate by using her authority."

Many residents believe it is just the beginning of the destruction of the last slum in the gleaming Gangnam district ahead of its redevelopment plan.

Park's predecessor, Oh Se-hoon, started the project in 2011. But after Park was sworn in that year, he said giving places back to the residents is the first thing to be done before carrying out such a plan.

A significant portion of residents are in their 70s or 80s and live alone, most of them without any sort of state assistance.

"Now many lost their home and have no money. This is heartbreaking," Kim said.

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