SNA (Tokyo) — The proliferation of basement housing in Seoul, South Korea, has proven in recent years to make the city particularly vulnerable to flooding which results in loss of life and extensive property damage. The metropolitan government has pledged to act.

Basement apartments are located throughout South Korea, but particularly in the capital city of Seoul. They have become a popular option for individuals and families who live on tight budgets. For many people, there are simply no other affordable options.

Though precise statistics are hard to come by, it is believed that about 200,000 households in Seoul fall into this category.

Such basement apartments–called banjiha in the Korean language–are often constructed at a lower elevation than the sewer lines and other countermeasures meant to cope with urban flooding. As a result, during episodes of heavy rain these basement apartments can become traps for their occupants, sometimes leading to loss of life.

In early August, heavy rainfall hit the Seoul area, leading to the worst urban inundation in the city’s recorded history. About twenty people died.

This disaster led Seoul Mayor Oh Se-Hoon to visit the site of where some of the victims had died in order to pledge that he would bring an end to such avoidable tragedies: “subterranean and semi-underground housing is a backward type of accommodation that threatens the vulnerable in all manners, including the safety of their residential environments. Such housing should now disappear,” he declared.

To achieve this goal, the mayor decided to amend ordinances in order to ban basement housing over the long term; gradually sunsetting this kind of abode over the next twenty years.

But this is not his first attempt to eliminate basement apartments in the South Korean capital. During his previous tenure as mayor from 2006-2011, another lethal flood disaster led Oh to make the same pledge. Nevertheless, tens of thousands of new basement apartments were opened to tenants in the intervening years.

Oh also faced criticism when it was revealed that the city’s budget related to flood countermeasures and maintenance of sewage treatment facilities had been cut by 18% since he returned to office last year.

This even led some local wits to call the mayor “Oseidon”–referencing the ancient Greek god of the oceans.

It remains to be seen whether or not his new ban on basement apartments will prove effective.

At any rate, South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol, who is conservative Mayor Oh’s political ally, has pledged other measures to reduce loss of life from flooding. The president declared that “we should operate an immediate warning system, monitoring all water levels of the nation, and simulating what could happen using the latest digital technologies.”

The Ministry of Environment says it will prioritize protecting people from floods in next year’s budget. Some of these funds are expected to be allocated for forecasting, monitoring, and mitigating urban inundations like that which occurred in August.

Problematic areas such as Gwanghwamun and Gangnam Station, located near the center of Seoul, will receive particular attention, with extensive changes to their flood tunnels and sewage systems.

The Dorimcheon River runs through the center of Seoul, exacerbating the severity of urban floods.

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