Seoul free food centre founder fights eviction from upscale area: ‘I’m not going anywhere’

Before the Zaha Hadid-designed plaza, before the luxury high rises, before the South Korean neighbourhood hosted fashion week, there was a pastor handing out rice to poor pensioners in Seoul’s Dongdaemun district.

But as land values in the rapidly gentrifying area have soared, Choi Il-do has found himself increasingly at odds with his new neighbours, who claim his popular free meal service centre attracts too many people, leading to crime and hurting property prices.

A new district chief won office in 2022 on the back of a promise to relocate the “Babfor” centre – which means “scooping out rice” – and Choi now faces multiple legal cases, based on property law technicalities.

Residents of the glitzy condos that now overlook the small, bustling Babfor centre “claim our service has devalued their properties by up to 200 million won (US$145,000)” per apartment, Choi said.

Choi blames “unfounded rumours” that his clientele – overwhelmingly pensioners who are South Korea’s poorest demographic, with a poverty rate of around 40 per cent – commit crimes.

A court case this month will hear and potentially determine whether Choi has to pull down sections of his centre, which authorities now claim were built without proper permission.