Abstract

In the 1970s, the full-scale development of the area now known as Gangnam began, ushering in the era of real estate investment on apartments which transformed housing styles in Korea. Apartments were pitched as the most ideal type of housing, creating a competitive market of high demand and skyrocketing prices. The apartments were also viewed as a means of quick asset investment among middle-class Koreans. Within this apartment frenzy stood the female real estate speculator, the bokbuin. This study seeks to locate the bokbuin in the real estate development market after the late 1970s. The apartment speculation boom cannot be attributed to the bokbuin alone, yet she became the target of public anger and criticism, singled-out as being responsible for fueling illegal and unethical investments. The apartment boom of the 1970s was in fact generated in large part by the government, developers, construction companies and realtors. While their pursuit of profit was deemed as legitimate, the bokbuin’s conduct was mostly tainted by presumed illegitimate and greedy motivations. This study problematizes this gendering of real estate investment and treat the bokbuin as a byproduct of the family-centered culture in East Asia. Analyzing Im Kwon Taek’s film “Mrs. Speculator”, Park Ki Won’s conte, “Bokbuin”, Park Wan Seo’s short story, “Children of Paradise”, “The People of Seoul”, this study shows that bokbuin’s pursuit was not hers alone; it was the collective pursuit with her husband for the enhancement of family finances. This study argue that the bokbuin embodied the thickly misogynistic climate of the 1970s that projected the chaotic rise of greed onto the woman.