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PEOPLE & ARTS Monday 17 February 2020

'Parasite' shines light on South Korean basement dwellers

By JUWON PARK choice for urban dwellers in the window, causing the
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) Seoul, one of the most ex- walls to mold.
— Kim Da-hye, a 29-year- pensive cities in Asia. "It's easy to see inside from
old South Korean, said The apartments, which outside and vice versa,"
that moving into a semi- are often cramped and Kim said, adding that her
basement apartment was sometimes squalid, gener- window also invites dust
her least-preferred option ally cost between $210 and from cars and motorcycles
when she was looking for a $500 a month with a hefty on the street.
new place to live. deposit. She said she has mixed feel-
But after a rigorous search Kim, who moved into her ings about the film despite
and a close examination $211-a-month banjiha sharing her name — Da-
of her finances, she was apartment after leaving hye — with the daughter of
forced to settle for a "ban- her job to take care of her the affluent family.
jiha," the Korean word for a mother, is no fan of her "At the start of the movie
cramped basement flat. current accommodations, when an image flashed of
South Korean director Bong which flood during the a drunkard who was pee-
Joon-ho's Oscar-winning rainy season. ing on the street, I didn't
film "Parasite" has brought "During one summer, I left find it funny," she said. "I
banjiha dwellers like Kim the house with the window felt a bit bitter because
to worldwide attention, open," she said. "When I Kim Da-hye, a 29-year-old South Korean, talks about her semi- (the movie) had moments I
basement apartment in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 15,
thanks to its depiction of came back, there was wa- 2020. could totally relate to. I had
two families — one living ter all over and the walls Associated Press mixed feelings because
in a semi-basement apart- were wet." it didn't feel like someone
ment and the other in an She says that when she flooding. "My bathroom has ing and pointing at the else's story."
airy mansion — and the dif- dries her laundry, "the walls stairs just like that place," two steep steps leading to "I thought it really resem-
ferences in their social sta- get damp and my laundry Kim said, referring to the the square bathroom. She bled reality," Kim said. "(The
tus. smells." basement toilet in the film joked that she doesn't at- father in the movie) wanted
In 2015, around 1.9% of Prior to moving in, she was that spews out filthy sludge tempt to go to the bath- to climb higher but ended
South Koreans lived in semi- very concerned about the during a flood that destroys room when she's drunk. up going lower than where
basement apartments, ac- apartment's toilet, which the house. Since the apartment is half he was before. That's similar
cording to data from Statis- sits much higher than the "I could slip while climbing underground, it is difficult to how I feel about my fu-
tics Korea. It's an affordable floor in order to prevent the stairs," Kim said, laugh- for sunlight to seep through ture." q