Officials in Seoul, South Korea, are moving to ban the basement apartments depicted in the 2019 movie “Parasite” after three people drowned in their home this week during the capital city’s dayslong rainstorm.
Authorities said Wednesday that they will no longer give out permits for the homes, and they will also give the owners of such apartments 20 years to convert them, according to multiple news reports.
Lawmakers are reportedly looking to change national building laws as well to completely ban the apartments.
“Underground and semi-underground housing threatens the vulnerable in all aspects,” Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon told Yonhap News Agency.
Roughly 200,000 households live in the basement-style dwellings, known as banjihas, which make up 5% of Seoul’s housing stock.
Banjihas are a common housing option for the city’s lower-income residents and are known for their poor living conditions.
Current banjiha residents will reportedly be assisted by city officials to relocate to public rental housing.
The three people who died in their home Monday night were a 46-year-old mother, her 13-year-old daughter and the mother’s 47-year-old sister who had a developmental disability, according to The Hankyoreh newspaper.
A neighbor tried to rescue the trio, but couldn’t remove their window due to the water pressure.
A total of nine people have died during the heaviest rain South Korea’s capital had seen in 80 years, including another woman who drowned in her home in Seoul.
The rainstorm began Monday morning and flooded streets, seeped into subways and caused landslides before finally easing on Wednesday.
• This article was based in part on wire service reports.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.