Moon Villages (Dal-Dongnae), High-Rise Apartments, and Urban Renewal: A Theological Critique of Seoul’s Capitalism and the Built Environment

This paper examines the relationship between finance-dominated capitalism and the built environment in Seoul, South Korea, by analyzing two distinct urban spaces: the city’s slums, known as moon villages (dal-dongnae), and high-rise apartments. During rapid industrialization, war refugees, rural migrants, and evicted residents settled on Seoul’s peripheries, forming what are known as “moon villages (dal-dongnae).” The term dal-dongnae conjures an image of a village built on a hill, as if it might touch the moon in the night sky. Dal-dongnae is not merely illegal housing; they are structural products that emerge when marginalized groups, excluded from housing policies and land markets, have no alternatives. This paper explores how Seoul’s cultural narratives portray class spatialization, progressing from “moon villages” to “apartments” to “penthouses,” highlighting how residential segregation shapes perceptions of class. Ultimately, as moon villages are demolished, a question arises: “How can Christian theology preserve collective memory, community, and housing rights?”