Fire breaks out at Guryong Village in Gangnam for second time in two weeks

A fire broke out Wednesday at Guryong Village, Seoul's last remaining shantytown in Gangnam, just two weeks after a major blaze tore through the settlement. The fire was extinguished within two hours, and no casualties were reported.

According to the Gangnam Fire Station, the fire started around 4:29 a.m. Wednesday in District 8 of Guryong Village and was fully extinguished around 6:27 a.m. No injuries or fatalities were confirmed.

A total of 106 firefighters and 32 pieces of equipment were deployed to battle the blaze. A coal-briquette boiler and wall panels were partially destroyed, and fire authorities plan to investigate the exact cause.

The fire is the second to strike Guryong Village in roughly two weeks, following a major blaze on Oct. 27 that took about 12 hours and 50 minutes to fully extinguish. That fire left 107 residents from 77 households in Districts 1, 2 and 3 displaced.

Those displaced residents have since been living in temporary accommodations. Gangnam-gu is providing temporary lodging, meals and relief supplies to 97 people from 60 households.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH) are also working to secure stable housing for displaced residents. SH has secured 435 units — 96 emergency temporary units and 339 temporary relocation units — and is helping residents apply to move in. The emergency temporary units are available for up to six months, with extensions possible if needed.

Guryong Village faces heightened fire risks in winter, when heating use picks up. The settlement is particularly vulnerable because its homes are built with wooden planks and sandwich panels, and residents rely on coal-briquette stoves for both heating and cooking.

Guryong Village took shape in the 1970s and 1980s as people displaced by urban development in Gangnam and other parts of Seoul settled on the hillside. Designated an urban development zone about a decade ago, it has been undergoing redevelopment led by SH. Residents have been relocating since last year, but as of last month about 150 households remain in the village, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.