Fire rages at shanty town in Seoul, 500 evacuated

STORY: About 40 homes in the 1,700-square-meter (18,000-square-foot) area have been destroyed, fire officials said, withabout 290 firefighters, 10 helicopters and police officers dispatched to contain the blaze. No casualties were reported.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is in Switzerland at the World Economic Forum, called for all-out efforts to minimize the damage and mobilize all available firefighters and equipment, his spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye said.

Interior Minister Lee Sang-min also instructed officials to prevent secondary damage and protect residents in nearby areas, the ministry said.

One of the last remaining slums, the village is a symbol of inequality in Asia's fourth-largest economy just next to the flashy, affluent district of Gangnam.