Community bonding vs. exclusivity: Opinions split over sports exchanges between two of Seocho-gu’s most luxurious apartment complexes Views of Maple Xi (left) and Raemian One Bailey. (Naver blog) Seoul’s luxury apartment towers are emerging not only as symbols of wealth, but also as hubs of exclusive social networking.Residents of Raemian One Bailey and Maple Xi, prestigious luxury apartment complexes in Seoul’s Seocho-gu where prices have reportedly surpassed 200 million won ($132,448) per 3.3 square meters, recently held a joint sports festival featuring screen golf, table tennis and basketball, according to news reports Friday.Organized by the residents’ association of Maple Xi in Jamwon-dong on May 16 to celebrate the first year of residency at the complex, the event invited residents from nearby Raemian One Bailey in Banpo-dong, another landmark luxury apartment complex in the district.“By fostering friendship with Raemian One Bailey, we hope the two complexes will further solidify their image as leading luxury residential communities in Seoul,” an official from Maple Xi’s resident representative group said.The games were held inside the sports facilities of Maple Xi, which are normally accessible only to residents who pass facial recognition checks at the entrance.One of the highlights of the event was a youth basketball game between elementary and middle school students from the two complexes, where around 60 to 70 residents wearing stickers bearing the names of their apartment complexes engaged in enthusiastic cheering. A banner displayed at Maple Xi last week, which promoted a friendly sports exchange with Raemian One Bailey. (X) A promotional poster shared by Maple Xi on social media announcing a friendly sports event with Raemian One Bailey. (X) A screen golf event recruited participants on a first come, first served basis at the venue, while table tennis matches were played between hobby clubs from the two apartment complexes.The growing friendship between the high-end luxury apartment complexes triggered divided reactions online, with some viewing it as community building and others criticizing it as a symbol of exclusivity.“These days, a lot of people do not even know who lives next door, so I think it is refreshing to see residents actually interacting with one another in apartment complexes,” one user wrote.But another user criticized the event as deepening feelings of relative deprivation, saying, “With housing prices already unbearable for ordinary people, this whole ‘friendship’ thing just looks like bragging. It feels like they’re creating another class divide.”The recent sports exchange between Maple Xi and Raemian One Bailey is part of a broader trend of luxury apartment communities in Seoul’s upscale southern districts networking with each other.Tower Palace, a luxury high-rise apartment complex in Dogok-dong, Gangnam-gu, launched a resident group in July last year aimed at arranging social meetups between single men and women living in affluent nearby neighborhoods such as Apgujeong-dong and Seocho-dong in Seocho-gu.Raemian One Bailey also operates a similar matchmaking community exclusively for residents of nearby luxury apartment complexes in Gangnam area.Some experts view the growing exclusivity among luxury apartment communities as a natural byproduct of capitalism, while cautioning that it could fuel social tensions.“The emergence of social hierarchies shaped by property wealth is a natural aspect of capitalist societies. However, intentionally drawing excessive public attention to such exclusivity for the purpose of raising apartment prices or marketing properties could intensify social polarization and fuel wider social conflict," said Seo Jin-hyung, a professor of real estate law at Kwangwoon University.