"I Didn't Know" The Tragedy of a Mother and Daughter in Sinchon That No One Noticed

Neighbors also say "A heartbreaking story... There was no contact"
Unable to receive welfare support due to failure to report moving-in

A mother and daughter struggling with financial difficulties were found dead in a multi-family house in Seoul. It appears that neither the neighbors nor the government noticed their hardships.
Photo by Byungdon Yoo tamond@

[Asia Economy Reporters Yoo Byung-don and Oh Gyu-min] A mother and daughter struggling with financial hardship were found dead in a multi-family house in Seoul. It appears that neither the neighboring residents nor the government noticed their difficulties.

The Seodaemun Police Station in Seoul announced that on the 23rd, a mother in her 60s and her daughter in her 30s were found dead in a multi-family house in Seodaemun-gu. The police did not find a suicide note at the scene and determined there was no suspicion of a crime.

On the 25th, when our reporters visited the residence of the mother and daughter in Changcheon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, their financial hardship could be inferred. A September bill from Korea Electric Power Corporation was posted on the front door, demanding payment for about 90,000 won in overdue electricity charges accumulated over five months. It was also reported that a letter from the landlord requesting eviction due to unpaid rent was posted.

The area near the house where the mother and daughter lived is a food alley densely packed with restaurants and bars, making it difficult to find close neighbors. This was one of the reasons why they did not receive attention from local governments or neighbors. Kim (54), who runs a restaurant on the first floor of a nearby building, said, "We are familiar with the people we work with, but we don’t really know the residents of this neighborhood." He added, "I might remember faces I see often, but I’m not close enough to know where they live." Another merchant, Jung (48), said, "I heard about the incident when I opened my shop in the morning," adding, "I didn’t know them well, but it’s a sad story."

The area near the house where the mother and daughter lived was a food alley densely packed with restaurants and bars, making it difficult to find any notable neighbors.
Photo by Oh Gyumin moh011@

The mother and daughter moved to Seodaemun-gu last November and reportedly failed to pay rent for 10 months, resulting in the entire deposit being deducted. In addition, they had unpaid health insurance premiums totaling about 960,000 won over 14 months, unpaid communication bills of about 150,000 won over 5 months, and had also been delinquent on financial debt repayments for 7 months.

Because their registered address remained their previous residence, the government was unable to provide assistance. Although they were not recipients of basic livelihood security benefits, they were selected as a target for crisis household detection through the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s ‘Welfare Blind Spot Discovery System’ in August. However, welfare officials in Gwangjin-gu, their registered residence, visited but did not know their whereabouts since they had already moved. Attempts to contact them via existing phone numbers failed. Seodaemun-gu stated that the mother and daughter did not report their move after relocating and that they had not received any notification from the Ministry of Health and Welfare or other agencies.