[Inside Chodong] Elderly Residents Worry About Where to Live After Giving Up Their Homes of Decades

"Where should I live... There’s nowhere suitable to go, but will the compensation for entering a nursing home come through?"

These were the words of Kim Sun-bok (82, pseudonym), whom I met in Simi 1-ri village, Idong-eup, on the 21st while visiting the planned site of the ‘Semiconductor National Advanced Strategic Industry Specialized Complex’ (hereafter National Complex) in Nam-sa and Idong-eup, Cheoin-gu, Yongin City.

Kim, who moved here about 40 years ago after working in a factory in Seoul and settled down, was full of worries about relocation and compensation issues. She hoped the compensation would be enough to cover entering a nursing home. She said that most of her peers in the village shared similar concerns.

Outsiders who only own land can focus solely on the compensation money, but the original residents have to use the compensation to establish a new home, and they worry about where to go at their old age. In fact, most of the original residents I met that day expressed the same concerns as Kim.

While touring Nam-sa and Idong-eup, what stood out was the unusually high proportion of elderly people. Many elderly were seen using walking aids. Although Yongin City in the Gyeonggi area is just an hour away from Seoul, Nam-sa-eup and Idong-eup still look unmistakably like rural farming villages.

After finishing the on-site coverage, I visited the Statistics Korea website to check the age demographics of Chang-ri in Nam-sa-eup and Simi-ri in Idong-eup, the designated areas for the National Complex. As expected, the elderly population was high.

First, the registered population of Chang-ri, Nam-sa-eup, is 685, of which 287 people (41.8%) are aged 60 or older, the socially recognized retirement age. In Simi-ri, Idong-eup, 252 out of 594 people (42.4%) are aged 60 or older. Looking further at those aged 70 or older, there are 155 people (22.7%) in Chang-ri, Nam-sa-eup, and 134 people (22.6%) in Simi-ri, Idong-eup.

Of course, among them are original residents who own large tracts of land and receive substantial compensation. However, it is not easy for elderly people to leave the place they have lived in for decades. They face a mountain of worries such as parting from neighbors and adjusting to unfamiliar environments.

Especially in Yongin City, where most areas are already developed, even if they receive compensation, they have to pay extra to secure housing. If they own little land and receive little compensation, there is nowhere suitable to move to.

Similar problems have actually occurred in nearby areas where development has already taken place. During the land expropriation process for the SK Hynix factory construction project in Wonsam-myeon, Cheoin-gu, and the adjacent Deokseong Industrial Complex project, original residents clashed over compensation and relocation issues. Those who owned little land and received small compensation were pushed to more remote areas and could not secure proper housing. Some elderly even moved collectively and lived in temporary shelters such as farm huts.

Given this situation, policies focused solely on industrial and economic development are regrettable. While these policies are undoubtedly necessary for the nation’s future, the sacrifices that elderly original residents must endure are too great. Hopefully, reasonable ideas and policies supporting the housing welfare of elderly original residents will be backed up.