A severe heatwave has changed the currency of cool in Seoul’s affluent district of Gangnam: access to air conditioning now defines the line between the haves and the have-nots. The ritzy neighbourhood was made globally famous by K-pop star Psy’s 2012 hit single “Gangnam Style” -- lauding the lifestyles of its ultra-rich residents. But under million-dollar luxury apartments chilled by whirling air conditioners, tenants in one of Seoul’s last shanty towns suffer headaches in the savage heat. “It’s so hot it’s hard to breathe,” said one resident of Guryong Village, a settlement of crude wood and tarpaulin shacks hosting around 160 households according to officials. The woman -- asking to be identified by her surname, Jeong, for privacy reasons -- said she could not afford to cool the one-room home shared with her husband and disabled daughter. “The poor really suffer,” said the woman in her 60s, washing vegetables by the open door of her residence as temperatures outside soared up to 38 C. South Korea is sweltering in a streak of searing weather -- new all-time highs were set three times over the past week alone, peaking at 42.5 C on Sunday. Volatile weather The capital was under a “severe heatwave warning” on Tuesday for the first time since the new category was introduced this year to alert citizens to increasing extremes. Scientists say volatile weather events are becoming more intense and frequent owing to climate change, which is man-made. But heatwaves are not experienced equally across the wealth divide. In exclusive Gangnam, south of the Han River, homes near the Guryong Village sell for up to 5.4 billion won (US$3.7 million) and boast all cutting-edge mod-cons. Tree-shaded boulevards are lined with flagship Ferrari, Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce showrooms, as well as designer boutiques and Michelin-starred restaurants. Jeong Eun-woo, who lives in one of Gangnam’s modern high-rises, has not found this summer particularly difficult. “I’m keeping the air conditioning running full blast. I drink iced coffee and wear light clothes,” said the 20-year-old. “So far, it’s been fine.” But in Guryong Village, set among mounds of accumulated refuse, access to air conditioning -- or even a reliable supply of electricity -- is far from guaranteed. ‘Just surviving’ Ko Jae-ok, 87, has collected handheld battery-powered fans discarded by wealthier Seoul citizens, but found they provide little relief. “We’re just surviving,” she said. South Korea’s economy is thriving amid a manufacturing boom in microchips vital to the AI industry. But the country is also witnessing a widening wealth gap. In 2025, the richest 20 per cent of the population held average net assets 45 times those of the poorest 20 per cent, according to official data. Vladimir Tikhonov, Korean Studies professor at the University of Oslo, told AFP Guryong “symbolises the alienation of the urban poor from the mainstream of South Korean society”. Not having access to air conditioning “puts their health into extremely grave, perhaps deadly danger” despite living in one of Asia’s richest cities, he said. The makeshift settlement, long earmarked for demolition, was founded by residents evicted in Seoul’s redevelopment drive ahead of the 1988 Olympic Games. Built without formal planning, it has proven vulnerable to floods and fires -- and now the record-setting heatwave. Emergency shelter Local authorities have converted a community centre into an emergency heat shelter and distributed 67 million won worth of cooling appliances to vulnerable households in Gangnam. The summer temperature’s death toll reached 19 on Tuesday, a government health agency said. The weather agency also warned on Tuesday of “life-threatening heat”, and Seoul residents received mass texts advising them to stay inside. But Baek Su-hyun said that offers no respite in Guryong. “If it’s 35 degrees outside, it’s over 40 degrees inside,” said the 65-year-old, complaining that ageing residents were being afflicted with increasing headaches. Baek’s home burnt down in a recent blaze, evicting him to a life in temporary shelter. But South Korea’s heatwave has made it uninhabitable, forcing him to seek refuge under a makeshift tarp just a stone’s throw from Gangnam’s gleaming skyscrapers, where the wealthy remain cool in their aloof abodes. “We just lie outside under the shade because we can’t stay indoors,” Baek said.
