Seoul – Lee Chang-wol lives on a sliver of some of the most coveted real estate in Seoul, South Korea, in the city’s rich Gangnam district.
But her life does not exude any of the glamour of “Gangnam Style,” the K-pop smash that gave the upscale area global fame. For nearly four decades, she has made her home in a cramped, one-room hut that does not even have a toilet.
Lee, 85, lives in Guryong Village, a shantytown in the shadow of gleaming new towers, where a typical three-bedroom apartment costs the equivalent of $2.6 million. The city government, which is trying to clear the slum and develop the land, has offered $3,300 for her hut and told her to vacate by mid-June or face eviction. She has rejected the offer.
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