The Jeon family, of Gwangmeong, Geonggi-do, are just one family fighting for their house and lifestyle.
They have a stand-alone house surrounded by similar houses but on the other side of the street are high-rise apartments.
According to them, the Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company has been almost bullying people into signing an agreement to let the company bowl the houses and replace them with apartments.
The company needs the agreement of 75% of the residents and does have that many signatures but the Jeon family, and their neighbours, are sure a lot of those are fake.
They know of cases where people, especially the elderly, have been coerced into signing.
Some elderly people who signed over their houses when the apartments across the road were built have recently been in contact with Mrs Jeon.
It seems they were unaware what they were signing.
''They [the construction company] hire middle-aged ladies to visit the elderly with presents ... and get them to sign. The elderly don't know what they are signing but the ladies are being too nice so they just sign.
''We have lived here for more than 20 years. Most of our neighbours are quite old and we think some of them can't read,'' Mrs Jeon said through her English-speaking daughters.
Paperwork for the apartments is already in place, signed off by the previous government under President Lee Myung-bak, who, before being elected, was chief executive of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, but the family and others in their neighbourhood have been protesting and lobbying local and national authorities for the right to keep their homes.
If the apartment block does go ahead, they will be compensated in some way, with an apartment too small and too expensive for their needs.
''Some people in this area that have small flats can get an apartment and that will be better for them but we don't want an apartment because we are quite satisfied where we are,'' oldest child Hannah said.
''Even though the apartment would be discounted, our debt would be too high because we still have a mortgage on the house and there is no compensation other than a discounted apartment.
"The bank still charges interest on loans. We've heard of some people committing suicide because they get in too much debt, also because they don't like the apartments in the end.
"They're built cheaply and with no sound-proofing.''
Those who have already voted or signed have already received some compensation, or an illegal pay-off, as the Jeon family sees it.
''People that agreed have been paid a lot by the construction company in the early days to vote in favour.
"That made it illegal so the Government wants a revote but we're not sure how it's going to go, because people already have the money from the construction company and it is a very big construction company so it has a lot of lawyers,'' younger daughter Amy said.
They have held many protests over the past three to four years, ''too many to count'', but feel they are getting nowhere.
They expected another residents' vote last year but are still waiting.
- Sarah Marquet travelled to Korea with funding from the Asia New Zealand foundation, where she worked in the newsroom of one of South Korea's largest papers, the Joong Ang Daily.
