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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Justin McCurry in Tokyo

Seoul to phase out Parasite-style semi-basement flats after storm deaths

A Seoul resident in her semi-basement apartment.
A Seoul resident in her semi-basement flat. More than half of these properties, known as banjiha, are in the South Korean capital. Photograph: Ahn Young-joon/AP

Authorities in Seoul will phase out semi-basement flats after three people drowned inside one of the cramped properties during record rainfall in the South Korean capital this week.

Banjiha, which gained global recognition in the 2020 Oscar-winning film Parasite, are usually occupied by people on low incomes and have come to symbolise the growing inequality in South Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.

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