Seoul to ban ‘Parasite’-type basement homes after storm deaths

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (right), looks around flood-damaged neighbourhood in Seoul, South Korea on Aug 9. - AP

SEOUL (Bloomberg): After at least four people drowned in basement homes during the worst storm to lash Seoul in more than a century, South Korea’s capital city is planning to phase out such dwellings that came to symbolize yawning inequality in the Oscar-winning film 'Parasite'.

Seoul is considering banning construction of underground and semi-underground houses after coordination with the government, according to a statement Wednesday (Aug 10). Landlords will be given 10 to 20 years to remove such structures known as "banjiha” homes from existing buildings. As of 2020, about 5% or 200,000 homes in the city were basement or half-basement flats, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.