Top Stories 21/12/20 Korean Church calls for halt to homeless shelter demolition

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Korean Church calls for halt to homeless shelter demolition 

The Guljam building offers a sleeping place for thousands of homeless workers in Seoul every year

UCA News reporter 

Published: December 20, 2021 09:01 AM GMT ▾

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A South Korean activist holds a placard to protest against the planned demolition of the Guljam building, a night shelter for homeless workers, in capital Seoul. (Photo supplied)

Church officials and activists in South Korea have called on authorities to halt the planned demolition of a building that provides nighttime shelter for thousands of homeless workers in capital Seoul.

The Guljam building, established in August 2017 with support from the Catholic Church, offers affordable sleeping spaces for about 4,000 homeless workers in the Singil-dong neighborhood each year.

The shelter was set up with donations from various groups under a church-sponsored fundraising campaign that sought to offer a good night’s sleep to workers who sleep rough in the streets in tents and other makeshifts structures in the absence of a roof over their heads.

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Besides accommodation, the shelter also provides free medical treatment for inmates thanks to support from the Church.

In 2020, authorities in Yeongdeungpo-gu, which covers Singil-dong, adopted a redevelopment plan that requires demolition of infrastructure including the Guljam building, reports Catholic Times of Korea.

Father Cho Hyun-cheol, chairman of the building committee, lamented that if the authorities go ahead with the demolition, hundreds of workers will be left without a place to sleep at night.

About half of elderly people in South Korea live in poverty due to no income and savings

Church groups including religious and civil society members have filed an appeal with authorities to halt the demolition plan by insisting that “sleep is a public right that should be preserved.”

“We have not received any response to it,” Father Cho said.

Kim So-yeon, chairman of the steering committee for the redevelopment, said it is essential to demolish the buildings for the sake of development. He suggested that a move is underway to provide land for a similar building in another place.

Meanwhile, activists joined by inmates of the Guljam building have been carrying out daily protests to press for retention of the building. It will continue throughout December and if the plan is not changed, new protest measures will be adopted.

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South Korea is a developed country and ranks among the top nations in the global human development index.

However, the France-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported in 2020 that about 16.7 percent of South Koreans live below the poverty line. It ranked South Korea fifth among 33 developed countries for relative income poverty.

According to the Borgen Project, a non-profit organization battling poverty and hunger globally, about half of elderly people in South Korea live in poverty due to no income and savings. It cites a government study in 2017 that found there were about 11,000 homeless people in South Korea that year.