The ritzy neighbourhood was made globally famous by K-pop star Psy's 2012 hit single "Gangnam Style" -- lauding the lifestyles of its ultra-rich residents.But under million-dollar luxury apartments chilled by whirling air conditioners, tenants in one of Seoul's last shanty towns suffer headaches in the savage heat."It's so hot it's hard to breathe," said one resident of Guryong Village, a settlement of crude wood and tarpaulin shacks hosting around 160 households according to officials.The woman -- asking to be identified by her surname, Jeong, for privacy reasons -- said she could not afford to cool the one-room home shared with her husband and disabled daughter."The poor really suffer," said the woman in her 60s, washing vegetables by the open door of her residence as temperatures outside soared up to 38C.South Korea is sweltering in a streak of searing weather -- new all-time highs set three times over the past week alone, peaking at 42.5C on Sunday.Volatile weatherThe capital was under a "severe heatwave warning" Tuesday for the first time since the new category was introduced this year to alert citizens to increasing extremes.
A man walks in the shanty village of Guryong on the outskirts of Gangnam district in Seoul © Jung Yeon-je / AFP
