Six residents of Guryong Village in Gaepo-dong, Gangnam-gu, the last remaining shantytown area in Seoul, were detained by the police on charges of erecting illegal steel structures (watchtowers) during a rally.
On the 24th, the Suseo Police Station in Seoul announced that six Guryong Village residents were detained and are under investigation for violating the Urban Development Act. The police are investigating the details, believing that the residents erected a 10-meter-high watchtower at the entrance of Guryong Village without district office permission around 6 p.m. the previous day.
About 200 Guryong Village residents held a rally demanding the issuance of 'residence confirmation certificates' for about six hours until around 12:20 a.m. that day. Some residents climbed the watchtower, set up tents, and staged a sit-in protest, but it is reported that they have since withdrawn.
At around 11:20 p.m. the previous day, during the height of the protest, Kim Bong-sik, Chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, visited the site to assess the situation and instructed for safe management of the rally.
Guryong Village, known as Seoul's "last shantytown," has an urban development plan approved last May to build 3,520 units of apartment buildings with a maximum height of 25 floors. Seoul City and SH Corporation (Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation) plan to relocate Guryong Village residents to nearby rental housing by the end of this year and begin construction next year, but conflicts have arisen with residents demanding pre-sale rights and other compensations.
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