<![CDATA[Homeless in Seoul: why some South Koreans struggle to leave the streets]>
It's 3pm on a weekday at Seoul Station Plaza in South Korea, and a handful of homeless people are gathered at the entrance, sitting on the curb and leaning against the walls, amid piles of cardboard boxes, blankets and extra clothes.
The sound of hymns comes from a tent in the middle of the plaza. Local churches visit the area every few weeks to lead elders and homeless people to worship and to give away food.
The station and others nearby have become havens for the homeless, many of whom have migrated from rural areas.
"Many homeless people have crowded this central area because it offers food, shelter and aid for us," says Lee Young-su, 53, who has stayed at Seoul Station for more than 10 years. "Hundreds of homeless people crowd the subway stations after 4.50pm when we are allowed to set up camp inside."
Seoul's homeless rate has dropped significantly in recent years, from 4,505 homeless people in 2014 to 3,478 in 2018, according to the Seoul Welfare Foundation and the Seoul Association of Institutes for the Homeless. This included 731 people living on the streets and 2,747 in government-sponsored facilities. The increase of the city's welfare budget and the crowding of welfare services from governmental and social organisations in Seoul Station and other central locations in the city are known to have contributed to the decline in homeless numbers.
Since Park Won-soon became mayor, the city's welfare fund has increased from 4 trillion won (US$3.46 billion) in 2011 to 11 trillion won in 2019.
A homeless man sells cardboard boxes and utensils at Seoul Station Plaza. Photo: David Lee alt=A homeless man sells cardboard boxes and utensils at Seoul Station Plaza. Photo: David Lee
Seoul has developed a comprehensive plan with the goal of assisting at least 30 per cent of the homeless to find work and become self-dependent by 2023, which includes the creation of 1,200 part- and full-time jobs in public sectors. Some of these roles include labour like folding shopping bags for homeless people with physical limitations. Assistance in finding temporary housing is also included in the plan.
Government-funded organisations provide rehabilitation programmes and facilitate gosiwons " low-cost housing. An underground pathway near Seoul Station where the homeless often sleep has been equipped with showers.
Nonetheless, the average duration of homelessness in Seoul remains high at 11.2 years. Some are not eligible to receive basic welfare benefits. Others choose to stay homeless, rejecting assistance for a variety of reasons. For example, many centres have a zero-tolerance policy on alcohol.
The area outside Seoul Station Plaza. Photo: David Lee alt=The area outside Seoul Station Plaza. Photo: David Lee
"I used to receive support from organisations, but I stopped going to these centres because there was no freedom there," Lee says. "I need to drink to drown the sorrow I have from being abandoned by my family."
He does not elaborate on what happened before he became homeless, but Lee says he has felt lonely ever since.
The Dream City Centre, located just outside Seoul Station, registered as a church in 2011 and is now open around the clock to provide lodging, storage, haircuts, laundry services and medical check-ups for between 300 to 400 homeless people every day.
"Many of these homeless people have not received proper care and love from their family, so many are without the adequate amount of mental energy to live independently," says Woo Yeon-shik, the centre's pastor. "Some homeless people I've met told me they are the happiest when they drink alcohol and forget about their realities."
South Korea's welfare ministry has reported that seven in 10 homeless people abuse alcohol, and those living on the streets spend 39 per cent of their funds on alcohol and cigarettes. More than half the homeless population have depression.
Lee Sung-jin, who did not provide his real name or age, says he became homeless after a divorce separated him from his son. He lived on a fishing boat for 10 years, sailing the country's southern waters. While out at sea, he developed a drinking habit, and later on stayed at a detention centre for verbally assaulting a worker at a post office. After being released, he wound up on the streets in Seoul.
"When I came out from the detention centre, I cut my monthly pension to gain motivation to work again," Lee Sung-jin says. "However, my work ethic was gone after 10 years of being homeless and not doing anything but drinking."
Another homeless person, Lee Young-su, gets up every day at 4am to attend morning prayer services at a local church. He drinks often and experiences bouts of depression, but is not eligible for government support because he has no physical ailment or disability.
He prays he will be able to join past companions who have left Seoul Station to find work or live with their family.
"I really want to get out of this life," Lee Young-su says. "But many times, I can't muster the will to make an effort all by myself."
Seoul's Dream City Centre is filled with daily guests. Photo: David Lee alt=Seoul's Dream City Centre is filled with daily guests. Photo: David Lee
Before Pastor Woo moved to Seoul in 2011, he ran a homeless centre in Los Angeles. He says South Korea could learn from the national policies and individual attitudes towards the homeless in the United States, where homeless centres are the size of stadiums and it is not out of the ordinary to see someone take a homeless person inside a McDonald's outlet to share a hot meal.
"A big difference is that the US government does not take age into consideration when they give out pensions to the homeless," Woo says. "Therefore, the qualifications for government pensions were less complicated in Los Angeles."
In the US, people in the lowest income bracket also receive housing benefits, via a government housing assistance programme called Section 8 that assists payment to landlords. Woo says poor and homeless people can get a decent-sized, clean home for one-third of their monthly incomes.
"This stands in contrast with low-cost housing in Seoul that have fixed prices for rooms that are barely 3.3 square metres," says Woo.
A view of Seoul Station Plaza. Photo: David Lee alt=A view of Seoul Station Plaza. Photo: David Lee
The pastor says funding in Seoul should be raised. "If funding for our city's welfare system increased, the number of homeless people receiving basic pensions could increase as well."
He hopes that people in the city experiencing alcohol addiction and mental health issues can become recipients of pensions in the future.
Woo says to help the homeless seek better lives, societal attitudes towards homeless people need to shift.
"More than 80 per cent of the comments in news articles related to homeless people in South Korea have negative words for the homeless," he says.
"If you take the time to understand where these people came from, you can see that their problems are not so far from our own," Woo says.
"They are homeless now, but they have the potential to become good neighbours to any of us."
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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