[Report] "Please Don't Drink Too Much from the Morning" A Day in the Life of a Homeless Street Counselor

Patrolling the Seoul Station Area 365 Days a Year
'Building Relationships' Is Key to Providing Help

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Taewon] Around 9:20 a.m. on the 15th, above the subway ventilation grate near Seoul Station Plaza. From early in the morning, a 14-year veteran street counselor for the homeless, Moon Minsu, approached those drinking two bottles of soju from PET bottles with snacks. Just as it seemed he was about to scold the drinking homeless, the six homeless people, startled at first, soon greeted him with familiar faces and offered him a drink. Their faces were flushed red due to the chilly weather, but they smiled and asked about each other's well-being as if meeting old friends.

"Why are you drinking so early in the morning when it's cold? (Refusing the drink) I'm okay." When the counselor spoke familiarly, the homeless person who offered the drink burst into a sheepish laugh. Moon said as he soon left, "Don't drink too much and go to a warm place quickly." He explained to the reporter, "You must never be forceful. Otherwise, they close their hearts, making it harder to help."

At around 9:50 a.m. on the 15th, Moon Min-su, a street counselor at the Seoul Metropolitan City Restart Comprehensive Support Center, is placing a homeless person who had collapsed and was sleeping near the ticket gate in the direction of Exit 1 at Seoul Station into a wheelchair.
Photo by Choi Tae-won skking@

On this morning when the temperature dropped to minus 2 degrees Celsius, street counselors for the homeless from the Seoul Metropolitan Comprehensive Support Center for Restarting Life (hereafter the Center) went out for street counseling around Seoul Station, its outskirts, nearby underpasses, and Yongsan Station. The Center’s street counseling team consists of 30 staff counselors and some volunteers. They patrol the Seoul Station area 365 days a year in shifts covering daytime, nighttime, and late night. As part of homeless management, their purpose is not only to check on the condition of street homeless who avoid facility protection but also to connect them to facilities and self-support projects, and if treatment is needed, to link them to hospitals. The Center currently manages about 150 to 170 homeless people near Seoul Station.

Moon, who patrolled near Seoul Station Plaza, headed toward the Seoul Station police box. While looking around, he hurried his steps when he found a female homeless person trembling in a thin plastic coat in a corner. Approaching her, he pretended to have just happened upon her and said, "What are you doing here? Have you had coffee? Let’s go to the Center for a cup of coffee and talk like last time. It was fun then," jokingly. When the woman said she had already had coffee and trailed off saying, "I feel sorry. You always help me..." he did not press further and said, "Then please be sure to come after lunch later. Okay? Every time you come, I’ll take responsibility for the coffee," and then turned away.

He said that the most important thing for street counselors when helping homeless people is ‘building relationships.’ Without a familiar relationship, homeless people refuse any help. Moon said, "It takes from a few months to several years to build a relationship. The female homeless person I just talked to didn’t even acknowledge me at first when I spoke. Usually, we try to build relationships by inviting them to the Center for a warm drink and conversation."

He added, "In truly urgent situations, we have no choice but to take them to the hospital somewhat forcibly. But after that, resentment grows a lot." He smiled wryly, saying, "There was a homeless man with severe asthma who was in so much pain just breathing. We admitted him to the hospital, but after discharge, he hasn’t even properly talked to me."

At around 10:10 a.m. on the 15th, Moon Min-su, a street counselor at the Seoul Metropolitan City Restart Comprehensive Support Center, is checking on a homeless person in a homeless tent near Seoul Station.
Photo by Choi Tae-won skking@

Unexpected situations also occurred during activities. Around 9:50 a.m., near the ticket gate at Exit 1 of Seoul Station, Moon found a homeless person who had collapsed and was not on the management list. Rushing over to check his condition, Moon sighed with relief and said, "You drank a lot. Why are you sleeping here in the cold? I’ll take you to a warm place," and called the Center to bring a wheelchair. He said, "Since this is the first time meeting him, we plan to protect him at the Center until he sobers up, then check his condition through counseling and connect him to necessary institutions."

As the 1 hour and 30 minutes of accompanying coverage was ending, Moon cautiously shared his difficulties. He said, "Due to the COVID-19 situation, emergency shelters were temporarily closed, scattering the homeless. In winter, about 150 people stayed at our Center’s shelter, but now there are only about 150 people in the entire area." He added, "We have expanded patrols to places like Myeongdong and the Han River riverside to find those whose whereabouts are unknown, but it’s difficult," and concluded, "I hope the shelters reopen as soon as possible."