South Korea's Real-Life 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 Apartments

Parasite: The real people living in Seoul's basement apartments

With Bong Joon-ho's 2019 film Parasite, he illustrates the intense disparity and division between two distinct Seoul lifestyles: wealthy living in high-rise apartment complexes, and living in basement apartments, or banjiha. South Korea has the world's 11th largest economy, and yet, it significantly lacks affordable housing, especially for young people and those who have lower incomes. Historically, these basement apartments were created as a result of South Korean precautionary measures against North Korean acts of terrorism within the 1970s, new low-rise apartment buildings to serve as bunkers if the need arose. A successive housing crisis then allowed many Koreans, especially those of the younger generation, to live in these spaces. These apartments are almost always dim and susceptible to mold and other issues. And while these apartments may seem dull and almost pity-inducing to some, many of those living in these spaces are quite content with their homes, commenting on the lower prices and the savings in terms of space. They have learned to make the best of the space that they have, and some even having done makeovers on their homes in order to make them more welcoming. As a stigma still remains against those who live in these banjiha, equating the basement apartments to living in poverty, many of those living in these spaces are attempting to dissolve this stereotype in order to hopefully change people's perceptions of what banjiha living is truly like.