Crossing Continents

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Crossing Continents: South Korea - a room with a view

South Korea - a room with a view

BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, South Korea - a room with a view

How a housing crisis contributes to a population problem.

How Seoul's housing crisis is contributing to a population problem.

“It’s like living in a cemetery.” Jung Seongno lives in a  banjiha, or semi-basement apartment in the South Korean capital Seoul. Last August parts of Seoul experienced major flooding. As a result several people, including a family of three, drowned in their banjiha. Seongno dreams of having a place where the sunlight and the wind can come in.

These subterranean dwellings are just one example of a growing wealth divide in Asia’s fourth largest economy. With almost half of the country’s population living in Greater Seoul, the struggle to find affordable housing has become a major political issue. It also contributes to Korea’s worryingly low birth rate. The inability of young people to afford a home of their own means they are not starting families. Many have given up on relationships altogether. 

John Murphy reports from Seoul, where owning a home of your own is so important and yet increasingly unattainable.


Produced and presented by John Murphy
Producer in Seoul: Keith Keunhyung Park
Studio mix: Rod Farquhar 
Production coordinator: Iona Hammond
Series editor: Penny Murphy

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