You may notice quite a few homeless people around Seoul Station. A lot of visitors ask me, “Why are there so many homeless people here?” One of the biggest reasons goes back to 1997, during the Asian Financial Crisis. In Korea, we usually call it the IMF Crisis . A lot of companies went bankrupt, unemployment rose very quickly, and many people suddenly lost their jobs and income. Some people eventually lost their homes as well. And many of them came to Seoul Station . Why here? Because this was one of the main places to find day labor and temporary jobs , and it was also the main railway station if they wanted to go back to their hometowns. But some had no money left and nowhere else to go, so they stayed around the station. That is one reason Seoul Station became one of the main gathering places for homeless people after the 1997 crisis. Then another thing happened. Once many homeless people were here, churches, charities, NGOs, and the government started providing help here. Th...
Have you ever been to a baby’s first birthday party in Korea? If not, you’re in for a treat. Korean first birthdays are not your typical “cake and candles” kind of thing. It's a big, meaningful celebration with deep historical roots. Let me tell you why it’s so special. Baek-il (백일) So, in the past — especially before modern medicine — infant mortality was really high. Babies often didn’t survive the first few months. That’s why when a baby made it to 100 days old, called "Baek-il" in Korean, it was already considered a miracle. Families would throw a small party to celebrate, inviting relatives, neighbors, and pretty much anyone who wanted to come. It was kind of like saying, “Hey! Our baby made it this far — let’s celebrate life!” But the even bigger celebration came at the baby’s first birthday , which we call "Dol" or "Doljanchi." By that point, if the baby had reached one year, the family felt hopeful that the child would live a lo...