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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- Hundreds of thousands of people in South Korea live in tiny underground ‘banjiha’ apartments, made famous by the Oscar-winning film Parasite, and seen as a symbol of the country’s growing inequality and housing crisis.
Seoul is now promising to get rid of the flats after four people drowned inside them during severe flooding last month.
Some of those who live there fear they’ll be left with nowhere to go.
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They can't just ban these places without giving displaced people an alternative. Single people with no money maybe can live in a goshiwon. But how about families?
I don’t know the intricacies of their housing situation (sounds like you do), but what you’re saying makes sense. I’m sure housing like this only exists because of the sheer demand, so I don’t know how you solve that problem by reducing housing options. If anything it’ll just increase the cost of nicer alternatives.
Hopefully they find a way as every Korean I’ve ever met has been super nice. They’re good people.
yes they can
Lol. Yes they can. And they will. U rly overestimate the kindness of our masters
They too can live in goshiwons.
This is one problem that the government can't solve, the people of South Korea has to voluntarily boycott Samsung on a national scale to make political and economic changes
The way parasite was able to capture a piece of reality and portray it in such a dark (yet realistic and twisted) way is so impressive, and scary. Looking at these apartments I could swear it's one of the parasite sets, but no, it's a real place where real people live. I'm beyond shocked.
Then you should check out how poor people live in India. The appalling gaps between the haves and the have-nots would make one thinks that the world is beyond hope of repair.
well i have seen some nyc apartment , its highrise but the conditions are the same , its no different then living underground , to live in the prime area , prices will sky rocket , unless they want to live outskirts and travel hours to work
Those South Koreans houses are much better than the middle class families houses in Africa and Asia
The part that these are not all poor people and living in such places is shocking. Didn't expect this would be the case in South Korea
It's literally tha same in every country... just with different extremities. War on Poverty!
The main problem is that most of the workplaces are in Seoul and it's too concentrated.
I live in Changwon where is the opposite of Seoul, and more than half of my friends went to Seoul to get a job.
The government should resolve this social structure first rather than resolving house problems directly.
The Korean government and the big corporations should try to invest elsewhere in Korea so that all parts of Korea can develop equally and not just concentrate in Seoul. A lot of corporations can move their headquarters and factories outside of Seoul, for example.
@@cate9963 Companies fear of losing human resources as these people do not want to leave Seoul and move out. Especially because of the high educational fervor for their children.
This phenomenon can be seen all over the world. In the Netherlands a lot of jobs are based in the west, while the east is relatively thin populated...
Over the half of the entire Korea leaves in the Seoul metropolis. Everyone desires, and everyone *craves* to live in Seoul metropolis.
I live, and have lived for my entire lifetime in Pohang, a 500k population city at the south-east region near the bay.
Busan - 3 mil city where my father was born - was already big enough to me, but when I went to Seoul for 1 month for studying, I was stunned, literally.
I have visited Seoul for tourism before, but living in Seoul felt like I was living in entirely different country. Complex metro system, Super tall skyscrapers, etc, etc. Even infrastructure created solely for studying, was in different level.
Anyone outside Seoul wants to live in Seoul.
Anyone inside Seoul never wants to leave Seoul.
Seoul *is* the Korea.
@@dsgrts companies should offer incentives to their employees such as paying for moving, housing expenses if they want to move out of Seoul for their jobs. SK’s government should provide grants or tax reductions to those companies who are willing to relocate. In the US, many big companies such as Tesla, HP and Oracle moved to Texas. They did it for many reasons but lower cost of living is one of them. California is very expensive especially in the Bay Area. I supposed it’s worth the move in the long run.
The mother got me so emotional 🥺 but when the son said that he had more happy memories than sad memories in his life, and he wish his mom wouldn’t worry about which floor they lived on… omg that line got me feeling some type of way. She raised such a kind son. You can tell that family has a strong bond.
Families who live in poverty are often the closest, and ironically have the happier memories of childhood despite hardships.
I’ve read poor people in general value relationships & connections, which would probably make a child happier than just caring about stuff when you have your mothers love, but ofc the burden is quite high on that boy & we all wish he didn’t have to worry AT ALL for his mama. :’(
“I want to move above ground where my children can see the sky”
That line absolutely broke me
Well you must be pretty weak then
@@ZaxorVonSkyler ok weakling
@@ZaxorVonSkyler thank you : D
@@CedarMountainsnow Ignorant
its called walk outside to get some groceries or go for a walk...hyperbole like that make me feel LESS sorry for these people.
The flooding is a problem, but from friends of mine that lived there I realised mold is the biggest problem. Every year during rainy season you live in moldy walls. Some of my friends clothes got mold while in the closet cause it’s just constantly wet down there. However, this is the only affordable options for many people.
Yeah it's a dystopian reality ..you can't have a good life if you're poor and you're born into poverty so there are very smalls chances of getting out of these situations... it's so unfortunate 😔
Mold on clothes is just the tip of the iceberg. Imagine the effect of mold on growing respiratory systems, on the young brain...etc. I grew up in a moldy house and I can only imagine.
Thus the 'radish smell' from the film
You can improve ventilation and do some air filtering but yes mold is problem.
@the Incel…no, they can’t. Most of these places famously don’t have any windows, you’d be the “lucky one” of you did. & you wouldn’t want to open them, the outside will often smell like straight up piss or shit.
I love how the son was patting his mum's hand to comfort her. So sweet 🥺
The son had an amazing attitude too, seemed to keep it positive!
Watching this makes it understandable how the movie parasite had won so many awards out there. How realistic the movie is to real life is actualy very frightening and also very amazing at the same time.
When a lot of the world can relate to its characters and how real it is. Of course it’s going to be popular. It sheds light on real issues!
I rented a basement apartment years ago and the lack of sunlight and natural light really got to me! I moved out to a top floor condo with windows on all sides and it was an immediate change in mood for me! You need sunlight to thrive
3:00 This statement really hurts me a lot. A lot of people want to get out of poverty, but can't risk getting higher paying jobs or their eligibility for housing assistance is threatened. So...they just stay poor...often for the sake of their children
Almost like they do that on purpose
@@chobblegobbler2536 your intelligence nis very limited
South Korea is a scary place, after you dig under the surface a little bit.
This is usually by design, sadly. Social entitlement programs are means-tested to the moon and back so it keeps the indigent in multi-generational poverty. Gov'ts fear having a populace with abundance; scarcity keeps them in power...but only for so long.
That's how the systems work. I earn enough to be comfortable with No health insurance. I can't get Obamacare because I earn too much but not enough to afford $550/month for insurance premiums. If I had $550/a month to pay for insurance, then I wouldn't need health insurance!
The world has problems at nearly every level of trying to do better in life. I own a home and will get by until I turn 62 and get insurance I guess... Ya'll Take Care, John
Left Seoul at the end of June. I was supposed to live there for a full year but decided to leave. I also lived in a basement with 2 Koreans. Finding an affordable apartment as a student was impossible especially if you see the high deposits.
So you literally went the way of the Dodo 🦤. 😆
@@JohnLee-db9zt omg XD
@@JohnLee-db9zt My god 😂
Are the rental laws as stringent elsewhere in South Korea as they are in Seoul? For example, how do Wonju, Daejeon, and Suncheon compare to Seoul in that regard...
i lived in a place like this in seoul while i was in college in korea. granted it was a little nicer like decorated well and thankfully no flooding in my area while i was there. but i couldn’t imagine living there with a whole family. and then the bugs??? oml i’ve never see so many and dealt with so many. it was awful
must have been in north korea, South Koreaa is very clean
@@ClaimClam not as clean as Japan. Youve never been to Busan
@@earthphoenix7068 come to San Francisco we have 💩 everywhere
@@ClaimClam clean doesn't mean no bugs. I think this person is allowed to talk about their own experience without you acting like a weirdo
@@earthphoenix7068 Nanking never forget
The way her voice breaks at the end is the most vivid summary of the desperation that brings people into basements as living quarters. Just banning them won't solve the underlying problems at all.
Having a balcony or any other place to go outside in your own four walls, no matter how small, should be a human right. Housing needs to be a human right.
No, you have a right to pursue housing, you do not have an innate entitlement to housing. Unless you're willing to pay for my housing, then by all means, go for it, I won't complain.
@@TheBanjoShowOfficial correct me if im wrong: did you just say that having a home to live in is not a human right?
living homeless is nearly impossible without someone stealing your stuff or assaulting you
@@TheBanjoShowOfficial Yes, I am willing to pay taxes so that everyone can have houseing.
Yes, housing should be a human right. People should always have a choice to move into high-quality public housing.
@@TheBanjoShowOfficial "The right to pursue housing" is euphemism for "The opportunity to die on the streets"
These take a psychological toll on people. I lived in a basement apartment here in the US. We have them in NY & CT (probably other places too) I was so depressed.
I lived in basement apartment most of my life and even bought my own. It is depressing when you don't own it and can't modify it to best suit your needs.
Greed will be the downfall of all of our societies.
korea is much better country than shitty America.
yeah no sh*t
Capitalism *
That time is now. 95% of the world will be at war with each other for gas and oil, and so to the people will rise up
It's better than the alternatives.
This made me feel really bad about the situation I'm facing. I am lucky compared to this family. Prayers to this family.
No one should be in your situation, especially these ones. But I hope every government is doing their job so that everyone will have a safer and comfortable home. Unlike my country that never does anything to the poor.
That old lady landlord saying "It's good to get rid of those but not in our generation, the next one" is the (almost) whole explanation of why this has been going on for so long an no one made a change.
If you look at the Single Family Home problem in North America it's the same deal, everyone sees the problem but everyone is infatuated with the fantasy that being a landlord is and actual occupation and that it can be used as an excuse for human exploitation.
The old woman also said that what she earns from rent goes to her medical bills. She has no other income source and she can't work due to her age and her bent back.
@@fc7307 In South Korea, financial support for the elderly is notoriously weak, that's the source of the problem there. It'd be hard to find a landlord in her situation in countries with universal healthcare and old-age financial assistance.
@@fc7307 the problem is no one wants to change things when it's for the better
Dude South Korea was a third world country when that old lady was a teen
She’s not wrong
I don’t think you know how much industrialization South Korea has gone through in the last few decades
@@fc7307 Yeah it sucks but it's a public healthcare coverage problem, not something that should be deffered onto and supported by exploited renters !
In America we just let people live on the streets. Lucky ones have a car they can lock, many have tents, cardboard boxes, some find shelter under bridges or trespass in abandoned buildings. Many sleep on sidewalks
Until they are moved along …
@@GrowingUpMixed
Korea has a very low homeless population, most of the population have homes though many of them are more reminiscent of hovels than they are homes.
And back in the 70s the Korean government had a policy where “untouchables”, homeless, drug addicts, the mentally unwell were moved away to rural government run communities to preserve the clean aesthetic of the city.
Imagine wanting to crack down on the poor and punish them for not being rich. American values are reaching other countries faster than we realize.
most countries have that problem.
america is a shit hole though
My generation works twice as hard for less and less. Thanks for leaving us a generation of basement apartments.
It's because of the population. It's too high everywhere. We have to become satisfied with less and less, generation after generation, because of this constant increase in demand on everything.
Finally for South Korea, the population is finally reducing very, very slowly, but it will be a long time before it has reduced enough for most people to feel comfortable. It needs to reduce a lot more, and that will take a long, long time. Thankfully, though, the population is already going in the right direction: down.
That was a good son to comfort his mother. No one ever wants their mother to feel like they didn't provide enough. It's probably harder on him to see his mother upset about the situation than it is to actually live in that apartment.
Government should take responsibility and provide own housing for its people. In Singapore and Malaysia, Government provide affordable housing for low income groups to buy so they can afford a home and not be left on street as that is bad for society and investors. We even curb speculative buying from foreigner so that house price don't go over
Nope in Malaysia the government provides affordable housing for the Malay Muslim majority only, everyone else has to fend for themselves
Easier said
Massive tax havens, they dont care about the public they just wants poor people of the streets
Isn't Singapore one of the most expensive places in the world to live in? I've read there are a lot of billionaires who own multiple condo units and buildings there to the point that they're skyrocketing the prices out of the local Singaporeans.
True. Seeing street people living and wandering about does have a morale and moral impact on society.
It’s so cute how she’s holding his hand at then. Those are her babies and she really loves them.
World inequality is getting insane, never thought this happens even for rich countries, housing should be a basic human rights
@@mk4883 whats that?
Why in every parts of the world has rent n housing price constantly going up when majority of the population can’t even afford. Why is Govt not imposing price cap ?
That will require some economics experts to answer your questions.
There's rent control in some cities. But it creates its own set of different problems.
Its interesting because where I live in the Caribbean rent has not even gone up one bit....
Because goverment never think of poor people. Like rich people never even know this kind of life are exist. Their busy making money and the goverment busy saving their siege. Their build the system like this so they can keep rich!
Free market! People move where there are jobs, better service, good weather...like Vancouver, Moscow, New York, Bombay...Demand increases where supply limited and price goes up. It's basic economics. If the young guy moves to smaller city the rent might be at least 5 times lower but there's no jobs or wage is smaller. Would he accept it?
The mother who raised a good son already won in life even though they are poor. I hope that they could somehow turn their misfortunes around.
Affordable housing and shelter is needed in many countries. And it's usually the zoning departments and the building departments that prohibit the building of cheap economical housing. We don't need big houses anymore to take up energy and environment.
This is korea, I'm not sure if the have same problems as North America.
@@donaldthompson6808 You're kidding, right?
th-cam.com/video/67uWQjs745E/w-d-xo.html
@@donaldthompson6808 They are eliminating ground floor housing. Due to recent floods and the possibility of floods and people's businesses and homes being lost have caused political problems because of high rent which always means homeless. Everyone needs affordable housing.
Maybe instead of an outright ban they should change the planning/building legislation so they are "safer" or more protected from floods. Housing in many countries will continue to increase as a problem and innovation is needed. This will likely include building down as well as up.
Why not just built up? Humans need the sun to survive. Making people live underground and expecting them to be grateful is inhumane.
Unless you are Korean, you probably aren't aware that renting just a small, one room apartment requires @ $10,000 US dollars upfront as a deposit , at minimum, plus the monthly rent. That is why that young man said it will take years to save up enough money.....it's the ridiculous amount of deposit that is required just to rent. You get it back when you move to your next rental, but that's still a LOT to have to save up! To rent in America, you might pay 2 months rent as your deposit. The huge deposit, uniquely required in Korea, is what most Americans would use as a down payment on buying a home.....but there are very few mortgages available in Korea....most everything is rent only and requires that huge deposit. Young people feel hopeless to ever be able to leave their parents. Look up the word 'Jeonse' in Wikipedia.
Why are mortgages difficult to get in Korea?
It's the same everywhere. Dutch government makes it so locals can buy without large deposits but there just is not a lot of housing in Canada the Chinese buy all extra homes and price out locals Canadian and Korean governments need to get a backbone. Housing is a necessity
@@janvdb9258 Eff the CCP....they are buying up America's farmland too.....why?....to feed their own people?.....it shouldn't be allowed! We need to be LESS dependent on China, but it's only getting worse with Biden. Our government now is just as corrupt as CCP and plenty of our Politicians and Elites are invested in China.
Switzerland requires an astronomical deposit of around 12k average. HOWEVER you can instead take an insurance policy who will take the hit if you destroy the place.
I heard Jeonse is unique to Korea, where you 'lend' a big deposit(almost the price of the real estate) to the landlord, but don't pay any monthly rent, while the landlord will return the exact amount when you leave. The landlord normally will buy the house for speculation of value going up, yet let someone live in it during this time and use the tenants money to reduce debt or earn interest from it. Wolsae is monthly rent.
Korean gov is very rich, they should make more building apartments so at least people can live easily.
In Korea rich is getting rich day by day and poors are on the same place.
Intrest rates are very high.
Theyre building a lot of apartments, but most of those apartments dont have jobs in their areas. Some people commute 2+ hours each way
Rich governments don't mean anything, when it comes to housing. USA and Canada are very rich with so much land, and they still have many homeless people living on the streets and in the vehicles.
So I do live on and off and have lived in Korea. With family there to boot. Building houses in Korea is less about housing people but more about investment pump and dump schemes. I don't see this problem sadly going away any time soon...
@@thetsoehtike USA is poor asf
@@notoriousbig3k nope us biggest baddest budget in the world.
The number of people dying, relative the number of people living sub street level, doesn't justify removing these options! Obviously it doesn't feel all that safe, but many things can be unsafe when flooding happens. Instead of removing them all, they should look at where the risks are the highest and maybe ban it in certain areas only. And in these cases, support the people living there to find alternatives. Coming suddenly and removing peoples homes basically is just not ok!
It's more governmental stupidity, which makes homelessness even worse. Look at California.
They're not banning existing basement housing - only banning the construction and authorization of new basement accommodation.
So all the current landlords who own and rent out a basement place can continue to rent them out.
The plan is to phase out this kind of housing gradually, beginning with a ban on authorizing new construction.
@@SY-ok2dq Ok thanks for clearing that up. Still it does mean that the supply will decrease compared to the potential, when there is already a housing crises everywhere.
@@wowJhil No, it means supply should remain stable - there won't be a reduction in the current number of basement places available for rent. The landlords will continue to rent them out whilst their basement apartments remain in habitable condition and they're able to find someone to rent it. Landlords can get more money from rent for living there, than they could get renting them out as say, storage spaces.
However, total supply will no longer increase, as no more new places will be authorized. What might then happen is an increase in those low income people who would have rented basement places, taking up residence in goshiwons/goshitels. Perhaps there might be an increase in goshiwon type housing being built. Goshiwon are not located in basements, and typically occupy one or several floors on upper levels of buildings, such as 2nd, 3rd etc. floors of commercial buildings, above stores and offices on the ground or 2nd floor (street level commercial spaces being the most in-demand due to higher traffic, and therefore bring in higher rent to building owners). So they are all safe from heavy rains and flooding.
With Korean birth rates now very low, and having been falling since the 90s, the demographics of Korea will gradually make an impact on the real estate market, and the rental market. As older Koreans die off, and their property becomes available in some way (either sold off, or passed on to their adult children who then move in and vacate their old rentals) there will be more housing available on the market. Housing prices won't be able to be sustained as the younger population of Korea shrinks in size relative to older age groups.
@@SY-ok2dq The irony that a declining population will solve the housing problem! But yeah, I was thinking that without an inflow of new subterrain housing then relatively, these would become less. Either way, housing is a problem now.
3:33 it's sad to see when parents feel emotionally burdened when they couldn't give what they want to their child. But the way his son consoled, that's the level of maturity we all should envy to have. Wish the families get everything they want in life. 🙌🏼
But if they ban basement apartments and don't do anything about the cost of rent for other accomodation what are poor families meant to do?
We have also basement appartments in Germany with the difference that a bit of sunlight comes in and it doesn't smell of mold (most of the times)
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The 80 year old lady is a champion. I admire her. Even though my town is small it has everything a humanbeing needed. Good house, fresh air, clean water, good food. I'd dare not to go in a metro city to live in an underground shoebox.
Yea why won't anyone learn how to live in villages outside of cities
The 80 year old doesn't live in the basement. She is worried she'll lose the rent from the people living in her basement. She wants to keep getting money and after she's dead, then they can ban this horrible housing.
@@gearoidp she worked hard to get the house i think she deserves this. I respect her hardwork. She doesn't have any other source of income and at 80 years of age she can't work either.
@@Ramiz422
I wonder what the people renting out her place will do when they’re 80. You think they’ll get a nice house to rent out to people?
@@user-sf9gs2pg1b don’t bother engaging this dude he thinks being born earlier = working hard
It's interesting that a Korean Oscar-winning film should bring international attention on banjiha, while construction inacceptabilitties are generalized in many forms elsewhere and these are never getting the spotlight.
The film was not as effective and enjoyed as fiction by uppercrust Korean society as the Flood did to prick their little conscience for a while.
Is it just me or do these apartments not look that bad? Sure, living below ground-level isn't for everyone, but I'd rather live in one of those basement apartments than say a cage home or subdivided apartment in Hong Kong. Rather than banning or
phasing out these types of apartments perhaps the government should invest in better flood defences to protect people's homes.
Its better than those in usa, homeless!
And better than hongkong cages
Not all...Dubai is different.....these cases are happening in south Korea and Japan mostly....those people are addicted to city life...they're abandoning their country side...that's why....Don't include everyone..we're living muct better than the rest of the world..Dubai is Supreme 🥰
@@Tyg65 Dubai is an urban mutation. It may be supreme for the "right" people, be it the wealthy arab landlords or rich citizens, but it is build from oil money upon the slave work of cheap foreign workers with no rights, living in much worse conditions than the people shown in this article..
The guys ones seems recently furnished. Most of Banjiha are much more terrible than the ones in this clip.
Almost none of the shelter space housing being offered to homeless or very low income people in the US looks like this. Trust me. Many can only get put into a tiny house (a shed basically) among other tiny houses as a best case scenario. Or in a really bad motel. To say these don't look that bad is an understatement.
Not as bad as the cage room in Hong Kong
That's a nightmare
Well the people here can move away from Seoul........The people in HK can move to Mainland China, but they don't want to. Just so you are aware, everyone has options. I live in Canada, and the prices in Toronto and Vancouver is astronomical. However, if you are okay with lower wages, you can move away from the big cities and buy a house for 1/5 of the price. So in essense, your salary go down by 30%, but your living cost for housing goes down by 80%.
30-40 years for a guy to buy an apartment in Seoul is overwhelming. But for a developing country like Vietnam (Hanoi), its 57 years. Real estate price is ridiculous
I think part of the issue with Seoul is everyone is flocking there cause of job opportunities. If the government made the big chaebols or firms open satellite sites in other cities, maybe more people wouldn't feel the need to be in Seoul? I don't know....
They tried with Sejong city and it didn't work out too well. I hope they make it work
@@flatline-timer sejong city is working well as intended is it not? The goal was to create a 2nd capital city where governing agencies would be located. It was inspired by canberra and it is one of the most dull city in Australia.
The problem with a lot of Asia countries is too much concentration in the big city. Almost all big corporations and companies are in the big city.
Correct👍
All those companies and corporations are not the problems. People have choices on where to live as long as they are not doing illegally. Living in a city which they can't afford should not be one of those choices.
So true..
Yes right of course else region too problem right but more concentration happening in the big city's so uncomfortable too
Wouldn't change so never stopping as this is problem!
Not all...Dubai is different.....these cases are happening in south Korea and Japan mostly....those people are addicted to city life...they're abandoning their country side...that's why....Don't include everyone..we're living muct better than the rest of the world..Dubai is Supreme 🥰
Inequality in both the developed world and developing world is astonishing
Seoul housing prices need to be monitored. I know it's easier said than done but this is just outrageous.
How we are lucky being living in modern houses.
Yes we should all be grateful and happy for what we have not what we don’t have
Speak for ya self my house is falling a part just like his
Sad; eliminating them creates lack of housing and death of 1st floor tenants who can't walk if rain sewer doesn't get fixed in infrastructure.
Building lacks of escape emergency plan.
@@savemyneighborhood True just like street lack water escape emergency plan in prevention.
People outside of Korea don't understand how expensive the apartments are. The average price of them is around a million dollars so u basically have to have at least decently rich parents or have a really good job that the bank could trust you and lend you money to buy a normal apartment in Seoul.
We understand but South Koreans must ask themselves where and to who are all their high rents and taxes going to.
It's the same everywhere at the moment. I live in the most expensive city in my country. Unless you have rich parents helping you out, you're not buying a house or apartment. It'll take a lifetime just to save up enough to be accepted for a loan. We're all fucked.
its not about taking away these places. Its about giving these people the ability to have enough money to afford better housing. Honestly this shows what Korea's economic situation is and how tough it is to get into the gate keeping higher pay jobs which are based on extremely competitive educational systems. its the same as trying to solve homelessness. Making these places illegal is not going to solve this economic issues that are forcing people to live in these places...
The issue is that deposits in Korea are so high. To get a place like the ones show here, you should have at least 10k usd
@@bighaneul89 thats the problem isnt it. the rich get richer and i swear korean society isnt known to be whistle blowers because the culture dictates to keep your head down and work and respect people that are elders or have higher paying jobs... its ridiculous
@@bpxl53yewz29 i agree. Im curious though as to if presidents are implementing leftist policies and anybody who is against that would automatically label the it as communism which is unfair and distracts from the issue of helping these people in need period. happens in america wouldnt be suprised if that happens in korea as well, hell that why korean war was fought anyhow.
@@bpxl53yewz29 i think thats an excellent point if its in the upper thousands it would be hard to afford make it make sense.
if you check how much it rained, it was 140mm per hour for a region. The floods in 2021 Germany was around 150mm for 24hours. The drainage system is quite good in Seoul it is just that it rains in massive quantity in these seasons. Also there are already too many underground structure so it is hard to install more stuff for drainage (well at least something that is significant).
This world is rapidly passing away and I hope that you repent and take time to change before all out disaster occurs! Belief in messiah alone is not enough to grant you salvation - Matthew 7:21-23, John 3:3, John 3:36 (ESV is the best translation for John 3:36) if you believed in Messiah you would be following His commands as best as you could. If you are not a follower of Messiah I would highly recommend becoming one. Call on the name of Jesus and pray for Him to intervene in your life - Revelation 3:20.
Contemplate how the Roman Empire fulfilled the role of the beast from the sea in Revelation 13 over the course of 1260+ years. Revelation 17 confirms that the beast is in fact Rome. From this we can conclude that A) Jesus is the Son of God and can predict the future or make it happen, B) The world leaders/nations/governments etc have been conspiring together for the last 3000+ years going back to Babylon and before, C) History as we know it is fake. You don't really need to speculate once you start a relationship with God.
Can't get a response from God? Fasting can help increase your perception and prayer can help initiate events. God will ignore you if your prayer does not align with His purpose (James 4:3) or if you are approaching Him when "unclean" (Isaiah 1:15, Isaiah 59:2, Micah 3:4). Stop eating food sacrificed to idols (McDonald's, Wendy's etc) stop glorifying yourself on social media or making other images of yourself (Second Commandment), stop gossiping about other people, stop watching obscene content etc. Have a blessed day!
I never heard of this before. Eye opening for sure. The government should offer companies incentives to open business outside of the city. Then maybe people could have a chances for the better home life and still be able to find work etc.
Here in the US, we have people living in tents on the street, or if they're lucky, a dangerously unmaintained converted townhome apartment; because noone wants affordable homes "bringing down" their own property values.
This. We just push the poor into less "regulated" (i.e. zoned for the rich) housing in the countryside. People are living in fire traps and mold all in the countryside. If you are poor their are often times very view options.
The supply of cheap housing is essential for lower-class people.
I will bet you that this will raise the cost of housing and make life harder for people.
Yes, cheap and well located, close to supermarkets, cinemas, hospitals, malls, you name it. Also, with a view to the ocean. Yes, why not?
Wait, who's gonna pay for them?
Yes, it will and like homeless everywhere, they have no better option.
They are not lower class, they have good jobs, as they do not qualify to get into public housing. It is just that the housing price is so insane that people from the lower middle cant even afford it.
I would say down on their luck not lower class.
Just watching this, and now learning of the typhoon that hit the country today… praying for those affected 🙏
I live in a basement apartment in the U.S. where my view is dirt and other apartments across the way. I can barely see the sky and it's always dark. It really effects your mood. So I understand a bit what these people are going through. I feel for them and hope they don't lose their homes. Rent really is too high everywhere.
No one should live like that... I feel for you and all the people living in those crap apartments or on the street. Safety and having a home is a human right.
Average price of apartment in Seoul(including bad ones featured in the video) is $900k.. 😒
As always, governments around the world, don't solve the real problem (housing) and always opt in to getting rid of the population that's forced in to those conditions...
Corruption, corruption, corruption.
They want to keep it like that
This world is rapidly passing away and I hope that you repent and take time to change before all out disaster occurs! Belief in messiah alone is not enough to grant you salvation - Matthew 7:21-23, John 3:3, John 3:36 (ESV is the best translation for John 3:36) if you believed in Messiah you would be following His commands as best as you could. If you are not a follower of Messiah I would highly recommend becoming one. Call on the name of Jesus and pray for Him to intervene in your life - Revelation 3:20.
Contemplate how the Roman Empire fulfilled the role of the beast from the sea in Revelation 13 over the course of 1260+ years. Revelation 17 confirms that the beast is in fact Rome. From this we can conclude that A) Jesus is the Son of God and can predict the future or make it happen, B) The world leaders/nations/governments etc have been conspiring together for the last 3000+ years going back to Babylon and before, C) History as we know it is fake. You don't really need to speculate once you start a relationship with God.
Can't get a response from God? Fasting can help increase your perception and prayer can help initiate events. God will ignore you if your prayer does not align with His purpose (James 4:3) or if you are approaching Him when "unclean" (Isaiah 1:15, Isaiah 59:2, Micah 3:4). Stop eating food sacrificed to idols (McDonald's, Wendy's etc) stop glorifying yourself on social media or making other images of yourself (Second Commandment), stop gossiping about other people, stop watching obscene content etc. Have a blessed day!
I PRAY FOR THESE PEOPLE THAT THE GOVERNMENT PUTS PEOPLE AHEAD OF MONEY AND FINDS A SOLUTION FAST!!! 😯 KIND REGARDS BEN FROM NZ
Seoul top 10 (if not, top 3) most technological advanced city in the world.
Is this a glimpse of dystopian future (where rich living in the highest peaks) OR served as a warning to others?
It a shame it require K-drama to raise local awareness about this issue.
I don't watch movies , but Bladerunner was on in a flat I was in one day , I couldn't take my eyes off it . It was like some vision of the future I somehow knew was going to be real some day .
This situation is not just isolated to Asia. There are definitely European countries that have this. I know of a relative in the states who used to live in basement level housing in NY.
I would not be surprised if other cities in America have this too. Especially in high ethnic group housing.
I used to live in a basement apartment in a really nice neighborhood. The actual apartment was shit but it was cheap and covered all utilities. I was there 5 years before buying a condo. In my city it's cheaper to buy than rent.
Housing is human right, it's sad to see a rich country like this treats it's most vulnerable people like this.
as the guy describes those semis look like 5 star hotel rooms when compared living homeless in People's Park in Berkeley
They need new norms and standards for basements going forward. Sufficient escape clearance in each windows, higher minimal amount of sunlight, heavier duty seals on doors and windows to minimize water leakage and give time for occupants to escape or even camp out flash floods in their homes, proper ventilation.
There's reason why in other countries, such an issue is much less widespread. Construction firms and government bodies must set a better standard for the country.
very insightful video
I'm a foreigner and kinda living in one of this semi-basement apartment. My situation is a bit better cuz I'm only half underground but during the rain we experienced this summer I also had some water in my hall. But at the same time I agree that prices here are pretty high. Like, my apartment is 600$ but it at least full time studio with separated from room kitchen. Before I used to leave in literally a shoe box on the third floor and my rent was still 600$. But if you want to get the nice and full furnished apartment (I bought literally everything for mine) it would be maybe 900-1000$ and it's still small apartment with one room and small sleeping area on the second floor (basically just a mattress on the floor). So, I don't know how Korean government is planning to fix it but I hope they will try to do it.
This world is rapidly passing away and I hope that you repent and take time to change before all out disaster occurs! Belief in messiah alone is not enough to grant you salvation - Matthew 7:21-23, John 3:3, John 3:36 (ESV is the best translation for John 3:36) if you believed in Messiah you would be following His commands as best as you could. If you are not a follower of Messiah I would highly recommend becoming one. Call on the name of Jesus and pray for Him to intervene in your life - Revelation 3:20.
Contemplate how the Roman Empire fulfilled the role of the beast from the sea in Revelation 13 over the course of 1260+ years. Revelation 17 confirms that the beast is in fact Rome. From this we can conclude that A) Jesus is the Son of God and can predict the future or make it happen, B) The world leaders/nations/governments etc have been conspiring together for the last 3000+ years going back to Babylon and before, C) History as we know it is fake. You don't really need to speculate once you start a relationship with God.
Can't get a response from God? Fasting can help increase your perception and prayer can help initiate events. God will ignore you if your prayer does not align with His purpose (James 4:3) or if you are approaching Him when "unclean" (Isaiah 1:15, Isaiah 59:2, Micah 3:4). Stop eating food sacrificed to idols (McDonald's, Wendy's etc) stop glorifying yourself on social media or making other images of yourself (Second Commandment), stop gossiping about other people, stop watching obscene content etc. Have a blessed day!
son statement was powerful when mom cried......glad he is mature enough to understand reality.....
Clearly the issue at hand here isn’t the apartments, but the lack of infrastructure to deal with potential weather anomalies
You would have to rip open half of Seoul to change the sewage system they have, its basically cheaper to just ban the housing that may cause situations like that
@@juula9469 no you wouldn’t. You can basically expand infinitely underground. Building new apartments in a metropolitan city is a much harder endeavour, not to mention these people live there for a reason. They can’t afford anything else
if you check how much it rained, it was 140mm per hour for a region. The floods in 2021 Germany was around 150mm for 24hours. The drainage system is quite good in Seoul it is just that it rains in massive quantity in these seasons. Also there are already too many underground structure so it is hard to install more stuff for drainage (well at least something that is significant).
@@juula9469 that's been done before, though I think Chicago put jacks under all the buildings and lifted them up
My husband lived in worse conditions for more than a decade. Korea has a ton of poverty, mostly due to single parent homes, but they don’t show it.
I used to live in one of these for a year and a half and it was terrible. Always breathing in mold because the rooms can't circulate air, there's constantly bugs everywhere (had a cockroach in my bed!) and it was overall just terrible for my health. However, this was the only place I could afford to stay in (was living in a goshiwon before but had to move out so that I could be able to quarantine when I came back after visiting my home country). I would've rather lived in a goshiwon for that time instead of living there. I couldn't sleep at night because I was worried there would be cockroaches in my bed. These places are terrible to live in, but it's all some people can afford. Now where will they live?
It is heartbreaking to see your own mother cry.
3:01 "But my husband started earning too much to qualify [ for public housing]"
What a farce. We have the same thing in the US, where earning more money loses you every social program at once, and you lose money, so "Why make more money?"
These systems should be designed on curves or lines, not sharp dropoffs and cutoffs...
It’s like the government wants to kill all ambition
Yup really. Im not knowledgeable enough but just reduce the assistance with salary increase instead of cutting it all, maybe.
I think a lot of the problem goes to how concentrated housing is in an area because of the amount of work available there - compared to somewhere rural
When I was younger, I fell in love with a girl who lived with a roomate in banjiha in Seoul. It was so small, that it was difficult for us all to sit down together at once. Her fold out table was tiny, but it was big enough for a few glasses and some bottles of soju, which was all that mattered. They didn't have a bathroom, but there was makeshift one just outside the front door with a squatter and a hose. It served its purpose well enough. I'm from a tiny town carved out of a cornfield in Illinois, so this Korean girl and her tiny apartment... in a mega city... surrounded by millions of people...had me utterly and totally captivated.
I don't think banjiha is a good way to live, but for a young man in love, being in a place so small that you had to be close together just to sit down seemed just about perfect to me...
man you should write this story down no joke
Which city in Illinois
Don't try to turn it into something romantic. This is an inhumane way for people to live seriously f off
What happened tho? Where is she
Dude this has nothing to do with the problem down there. No one cares abo it your selfish love story
This just happened in NYC last fall. Most Basement apartments are illegal in NYC but people live in them anyway. BBC should cover people who went through this in NYC.
My city tore down SRO hotels (single room occupancy, aka flophouses) back in the '90's, which was the start of homelessness here. Yeah those places were cockroach farms, but for the chronic alcoholic or addict, for the underemployed, and impoverished students, they were cheap housing. Now you are LUCKY to find cheap housing as a roommate in an apt or house.
There absolutely is a place for substandard housing. Nobody likes living there, but its what you can afford rather than sleeping on the streets.
I am one of those lucky tenants and I'm grateful! I moved into a former SRO hotel in downtown L.A. that was renovated into 'microflats' (adding a dollhouse size kitchenette to most rooms and putting new plumbing and wiring throughout) 12 years ago when the area was still urban decay. Due to rent control, it is still only $700, utilities included. Which also means I have "golden handcuffs" and can't afford to move. Most buildings like this have tremendous problems with addicts and bedbugs. This smaller hotel does not, but I worry it might head that direction because management recently welcomed a second Registered S.. Offender- much younger and fitter than the other one and classified as High Risk. Gross!
As cool as these places are architecturally is awesome. But the poor emergency planning really sucks
Where I live in the US, that style of housing would never have been legal to start with. We do have garden apartments here, but the windows are bigger. By building code, you must have a way to get directly outside in case of a fire. Windows have to be big enough for people to climb through. If people cannot escape in an emergency, then the apartment is just a pretty death trap. The simplest solution is likely to increase the size of the windows and to improve drainage. Otherwise, they're just going to make people homeless.
It's illegal in New York, but I know people desperate enough to live there anyway, and shady landlords who rent them out. I'm pretty sure this could happen in Korea too after these apartments are banned. You can't just make stuff people need illegal. The problem is that there isn't enough legal affordable apartments.
@@lalakuma9 100% agree
These old apartments in Seoul had these subterranean spaces enforced in the building codes during their construction to ensure that there were places for people to evacuate to in the event of a North Korean invasion
But you see, South Korea like many Asian countries have that horrible tradition inherited from Chinese and Indian civilisations on trampling on the rights and dignity of the population.
America ain't no better 🙄 . As if because it's illegal,it's not happening..the only reason it's illegal in this " great" country is so the dirty city and country elects can collect dat money if the landlord is busted..not because of the safety of it's tax paying citizens..
Make them waterproof. It’s simple really
I cannot imagine how hard it must be wanting to get out of such a situation yet having nowhere to go, either due to economic limitations or lack of skills either to get another job on a less populated area in your country or plainly a second language to move to another country, having to consider that if you move to a rural area you may be dooming your children to worse (or less accepted) education which will in the future prevent them from moving to the city (or any other better place)
Exactly!
@appa L Same situation here as well in the so called wealthiest country in the world.good ole red, white and blue..it's not a country though, more like a huge capitalist corporation.
It's interesting you both say that. I am a SW engineer and I had the oportunity to work for Amazon in Seattle, acording to the statistics my salary there was above 80% of the US population, nonetheless I noticed that my quality of life there was far worse than the one I used to have in Mexico (where I am from) so I ended up comming back to my country. Even if you have skills, quality of life in the US is bad even with a "good salary" (+ working for Amazon was a big hit to work-life balance)
too rich for public housing, too poor for a regular home. i know that all too well...becoming a home owner is impossible
The housing and rental crisis that every developed nation is experiencing will just make things like this worse. Much as i dislike govt involvment, there has got to be a fix on rising housing costs because wages arent getting much better without drastic inflation occuring with all products.
Property speculation is a cancer in all nations.
'Property speculation is a cancer'- so, if you put money into building more housing, what does that do to prices of housing/rents?
Just such a breath of fresh air to see even the lowest of the low behave and carry themselves with such class, there really isn’t much to separate them from the highest of classes of society apart from the amount of money they have.
But to see people in these circumstances so well-mannered shows just how successful the education system and the country of South Korea is. But no matter how good the system is, there will always be the less fortunate in the system, that’s the nature of things. Opportunities are not limitless.
If you’re one of these families living like this, know that the rest of the world do not look down on you. Keep your head up and strive to change your situation, but stay true to the morals you’ve been taught and you cannot fail.
Like the kid said, he has way more good memories than bad ones living like they do, and that speaks volumes.
well said!
I agree. I had a basement apartment and it too had that concrete view, and it flooded twice. I loved living there. I had a separate entrance and lots of space. You learn little fixes, like keeping your PC tower elevated by about a foot. It's scary when you wake up and see water pouring down the stairs and under all of your possessions.
I didn’t get the impression that these were the lowest of the low at all. They seem to have a decent income; one even said they earned too much to continue to qualify for public housing. It's the insanely high housing costs in Seoul that drove them underground
@@koalitaDormilona lowest of the low, literally and figuratively. They’re literally living like vermin. As in, below sewage levels. In the run off pipes essentially. But yeah, I’m sure poverty comes in many variants. Either way, don’t get too in-depth into it, the point is still the same. I’ve witnessed it in Japan myself. Some of the kindest folk come from absolutely nothing to their name.
.arent you letting the politicians off the hook, just a bit too easily? Housing is a global "problem" and these people have no representation in politics!
reminds me of New York City. They also started putting bans in place for basement apartments because the city flooded and some people died in them.
Omg, i used to live in one of those style apartments in Mangwon in Seoul. Was crazy cheap, like 500 bucks a month. But since it was banjiha, we had some issues like a street cat raising her kittens outside the bedroom window (we would feed them and play with them using a stick and a string through the window, but the poop smell was a minor issue). Also we had a peeping tom at one point. It wasn't terrible though. But the lack of air conditioning was rough. During heatwaves, we would put little shopping bags of dry rice in the freezer, then place them on our bodies before going to sleep to stay cool.
Possible solution for peeping toms: Wait for one to come by, then contort yourself in inhuman ways and let out a pterodactyl screech. If they complain to the cops, just tell the cops you wouldn't have done it if he wasn't trying to see you naked.
I feel like those underground apartments are dangerous but I dont know if forcing all those people out is the way to go :(
There are people in Brighton that also live like this… ugly and overpriced underground flats
But banning them makes it all worse.
There was a similar problem in NYC when heavy rain came through and killed several families.
That's unbelievable that in 2022 having all these technologies we still have problems with affordable housing.
The truth is government makes money out of real estate and pretend to care
Affordable housing is not about technology. It's about ideology.
The problem is that most people want to live in the same place not lack of housing
@@johnl.7754 people live where work is - in big cities.
@@s.a.3894 it's about supply and demand.
The solution is not ban these type of apartment but solve the poverty gaps and apartment rent prices.
Otherwise, it will just increase homeless.
Though looks ok thank many houses in other countries but Koreans work hard and deserve good homes
from what i heard, i think about 5 people died do to the flood last month, from being trapped in their basement apt. while tragic, that number is pretty insignificant compared to the hundreds who die every day because they cant afford medical bills, or the thousands who dont even have a basement apt to live in. instead of wasting money on remodeling perfectly livable homes, they should spend that money on homeless shelters and free medical clinics. and dont even get me started on orphans... banjihas are the LAST item on a long list of things the gov needs to focus on.
Ban basement apartments?
Why not just enforce codes that make them safer and more habitable?
Also, I understand poverty forces people to live in this style of apartment, but why is the apartment in squalor and disarray?
You can be poor, but there is no excuse for not being clean and neat and organized.
Just for the BBC cameras.
I agree. What we are probably going to need to see in the next 10-20 years is innovation in housing. Your traditional purpose built House, flat or apartment won't be enough. Empty shop units (for example) will probably turned into residences and developers will probably have a start looking down rather than just up. They're will come a time soon, if not already, where every empty space is considered for some sort of housing.
They just got flooded, twice. Some of the clips were from a film too.
When I first heard about this my thought was “don’t these people live there because they can’t afford to live anywhere else? Where will they live if they ban these apartments? They must of thought of a solution.” But watching this, it turns out they didn’t really think about a solution. If they ban these apartments then thousands of people will become homeless.
The contexts of modern society make climate change disaster even more tragic.
Totally, is your real name really sliver?
Biggest issue, majority of govs dont give 2 shits about population growth and building housing according to that which is crowding already crowded cities instead of building new population sectors which is forcing people to pay high rents for crappy spaces.
😤 What 💩 world we live in! If this greed and lack of empathy continues, I’ll hate to think what the consequences would be.
Fun fact, if the all of the Earth's wealth was spread out evenly amongst the 7 something billion of us, we'd all starve to death. Until people started competing for wealth by proving service to others in exchange. Part of life.
@@StephenAndrew777
More like B.S. fact. There’s no economic reason anyone should remain without a shelter\food esp after the invention of the engine.
@@StephenAndrew777 It doesn't need to be spread out evenly. Not everyone is money orientated. Most people want job security, to be paid a fair wage and a suitable roof over their head. They want their Government to invest in infrastructure. Some countries do this well especially the Scandinavian countries and other European countries. Unlike America for example, investing in social services and welfare is not frowned upon. It's not a dirty word, it's progressive. Those living standards are completely unacceptable for a wealthy country.
Are you threatening me?
@@sarahashun1180 Do not lecture me, your ignorance is embarrassing
There is a lack of land in South Korea for building new homes (as far as I understand) South Korea has ocean to the west, east and south. They could hire Dutch experts in reclaiming land from the ocean thereby getting more space in the country to build homes.
I visited Seoul back in late 2019 and stayed in an AirBnb semi-basement apartment. It wasn't that bad, just that the bathroom ceiling is a lil short and if you're 6-foot tall it might be a problem. There is also the musty smell that always appears whenever we came back to the apartment after we're out but we just open the doors and windows to air it out for a few minutes. Honestly speaking I really dont mind living in one, I believe the main issue is that there should be better drainage management to prevent such catastrophic flooding.
I think when you live there for a long period of time is when it becomes difficult
if you check how much it rained, it was 140mm per hour for a region. The floods in 2021 Germany was around 150mm for 24hours. The drainage system is quite good in Seoul it is just that it rains in massive quantity in these seasons. Also there are already too many underground structure so it is hard to install more stuff for drainage (well at least something that is significant).
Staying in an airbnb is an incredibly limited perspective compared to actually having to live somewhere under specific conditions. You watched a video of the perspectives of peoplo who literally live in these conditions, generationally, yet you think your airbnb opinion matters enough to say otherwise? Come on
@@chickennugget6233 Living in a semi-basement apartment does not mean you are living in poverty. You can see in one of the examples shown in this video, one guy actually has quite a large and spacious basement apartment and the issue here was that it flooded due to the massive rainstorm experienced. You should stop generalising that living underground is only for the poor. Do you know in Singapore, the government there is already planning to expand household accommodations underground and in the future this will be a pretty normal way of life for most ppl. So yes, me living in a AirBnb basement does qualify me to give my two cents worth. It is actually much better than the tiny studio that I lived in while studying for my degree.
In my country, those underground apartments would be considered as basement for storage, not a living house for people.. How can their govt treated people like a thing and force them living in those basement where sunlight hardly can reach them?
its what all governments do. they dont care for human beings.
I'm Mexican American, my neighbor is Korean, I have a lot of respect for her, she's one of the sweetest ladies I've ever met.
Why don't you go and tell her instead.
@@imgood6535 I find it very silly of you to think I have never done it before.
Most cheaper dwellings have so little sunlight because the windows are small and usually face the wall of a neighboring building. I had to buy an LED lamp to keep my plants alive.