The long history of these banjiha houses have prompted banjiha, along with 'oktapbang' and 'gosiwon,' to be associated with poverty.

Some 62 percent of these basement flats were located in Seoul, reflecting the staggering property prices in the capital where one-fifth of the national population lives. There were 363,896 households living in basement or semi-basement flats in 2015, accounting for 1.9 percent of all households, according to the latest data by the state-run Korean Statistical Information Service. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE)(Yonhap)ĭecades later, banjiha are still a cheap housing option in the city where median apartment prices have topped 900 million won (US$759,814), while the minimum monthly wage stands at 1.8 million won. It was filmed at a special effects studio in Gyeonggi Province. This image, provided by the Goyang city government, shows a scene from the film 'Parasite' where the Kim family's semi-basement apartment was damaged from a flood. The move was seen as legalizing underground residences, which had already become a regular housing option for the needy, according to a policy summary by the Institute for Democracy. In 1984, the government relaxed regulations, allowing basement flats to be built higher, with half of them being underground and half above ground, coining the term 'banjiha.' While it was illegal to live in the underground spaces, they eventually became an inevitable alternative as the city's population swelled in line with the country's rapid industrialization. The history of semi-basement flats dates back to 1970, when the government mandated basement floors in construction projects.

Outside Bong's fictional world, banjiha is a housing option that has provided homes for urban dwellers hunting for affordable housing.

'This is the ingenious point my movie makes.' 'But at the same time, they are afraid of falling into a complete underground situation if things get worse,' he said. '(People) live underground but want to believe that they are above the ground because they have a moment when sunlight comes into their room,' noting light's symbolic meaning. 'In South Korea, semi-basements have subtle nuances,' Bong said in a press conference for the 72nd Cannes Film Festival in May 2019.

This image, provided by CJ Entertainment, shows two characters in the film 'Parasite' searching for a Wi-Fi signal at their semi-basement flat.

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