An overview of Noryangjin-dong in southern Seoul, July 29 / Courtesy of Bereket Alemayehu

A large section of southern Seoul's Noryangjin-dong lies in ruins. That's not particularly unique these days, with similar redevelopment projects claiming swaths of land in all corners of the city.

Dongjak FM invited community members to collect documentary footage offering one last view of the neighborhood before it disappears into history.

"My mother-in-law ran a boarding house in Noryangjin for a long time. She lives constantly repairing and caring for her old house, waiting for redevelopment," said Nana, a producer at community radio station Dongjak FM who took part in the project. "For me, Noryangjin is like a neighborhood that is slowly getting older. It is a place that shows the cross-section of Korean society that has entered aging."

When non-Koreans think of Noryangjin, they probably picture the fish market, which has been relocated from an older building into a new space in a move that has triggered much social conflict. Koreans might also be likely to think of all the cram schools in the area. The neighborhood is also known for cup rice.

What's less well known about Noryangjin is that it has hosted many foreign migrants and even refugees coming to Korea to seek asylum.

"Noryangjin is located in the center of Seoul, but prices are very cheap," Nana said. "Most of the buildings are old, so the rent is cheap and it is located along the Han River, so it's convenient to move anywhere in Seoul. Most of the migrants work in factories outside of Seoul. That's why it's important to be convenient to move around. That's why many migrants continue to stay here."

The area has hosted a handful of centers providing temporary housing for refugees, such as The Refuge pNan, and that is also why many refugees and migrants have called this area their first home in Korea.

One of them is Bereket Alemayehu, who has lived in various places around the neighborhood since moving here from Ethiopia nine years ago.

A house is overgrown with vines in Noryangjin-dong in southern Seoul, July 29. / Courtesy of Bereket Alemayehu

In recent months, he has seen three of his former homes cordoned off for demolition in the neighborhood.

He recently moved to a new place, after experiencing an eviction from his previous home. He described how three people had visited his previous home to hand him a 155-page document entirely in Korean. He was given three months to move out.

Like many other foreign migrants in the neighborhood, he decided not to look for a new home too far away.

"As you might guess, finding a new place to live wasn't easy, as refugees we might not be welcome everywhere like locals," he said. "In my case, the owners of my previous house helped me in getting my current house because of their friendship and kind recommendation. I think even the house where I live now won't stay long."

He remarked that from his new home, only a couple hundred meters from the previous one, he can hear heavy machinery working on the redevelopment project every day.

"It is a reminder that I'm a stranger in this country and life is not permanent," he said. "I don't imagine having a stable life. But I'm not complaining — this is happening in many places in Korea."

Alemayehu teamed up with Dongjak FM and others for the documentary project, which led to the creation of a video titled "Bricks and Trees."

"More and more residents have to leave their homes because of the redevelopment plan, and there are many migrants among them," Nana said about why she produced the 10-minute video. "Migrants have left where they lived once already, and I wondered what it would be like to leave the place where they lived unexpectedly, and I wanted to capture their views in the video."

The video begins with footage shot by Yang Seung-ryul, head of Dongjak FM, which captures an audio exchange he has with a worker patrolling the area. It contains a few lines of unassuming dialogue, as the worker questions what Yang, a 40-year resident of the area, is doing there. Yang said that it was a threatening situation and the worker reminded him of tough-guy actor Ma Dong-seok.

Most of the narration for the video comes from Nashon Owano, a storyteller and a journalist by trade hailing from Kenya.

Unlike the other participants, Owano has not lived in Noryangjin, and said working on the project was the first time he visited the area. That gave him a fresh perspective on what was there and what will be lost in the ongoing redevelopment project.

"For me what stood out was the unique architecture of the area that makes it beautiful to look at. While most areas of Seoul are surrounded by high-rise apartments, the fact that this was not the case in Noryangjin told of a uniqueness that needs to be protected and maintained for future generations," he said. "I feel that there needs to be a unique approach to redevelopment factoring the important components of areas that once demolished cannot be rebuilt again."

He stressed that one aspect of the redevelopment that caught his attention was the number of trees in the area that are unlikely to be moved — hence the "Trees" in the title "Bricks and Trees."

One such tree, pointed out by Alemayehu on a walk through the redevelopment zone earlier this year, stands tall over the grounds of pNan's former education center, the first place that sheltered him on his arrival in Korea.

"Instead of entirely demolishing all the areas, how about sparing and turning villages into community spaces?" Alemayehu suggested. "I hope they might keep the small parks or expand them into green areas."

Bereket Alemayehu walks through a park bordering a massive redevelopment zone in Noryangjin-dong, July 29. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

"In the end, Noryangjin will be developed, but I hope the stories of the people who live here and the unique scenery and culture here don't just disappear," Nana said. "I hope it will be recorded and exhibited in any form. That's why we also keep recording and archiving this area."

Visit dongjakfm.net or fb.com/dongjakfm for more information, or go to youtube.com/@dongjakfm to find the video.