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Letter From Seoul
Korean drama or real life?: How a ‘heart convenience store’ soothes loneliness
At the Heart Convenience Store, visitors can enjoy massages, foot baths, a cup of tea and instant food like ramyeon while connecting with others in the neighbourhood.ST PHOTOS: WENDY TEO
PUBLISHED May 31, 2025, 05:00 AM
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SEOUL – As with many Koreans, Ms Kim Seo-jin (not her real name) finds instant ramyeon to be the ultimate comfort food.
It is something she eats daily as she lives alone and does not cook.
“I love noodles more than rice, just give me kimchi and ramyeon and I’m happy,” she told The Straits Times in a soft voice, her head bowed and eyes shyly avoiding contact.
The 63-year-old, who suffers from bipolar disorder and panic attacks, was a social recluse for more than 10 years, rarely leaving her apartment as she spent her time surfing the internet on her computer.
A traumatic experience with “someone bad” in her youth had left her crying all the time and unable to catch her breath.
Whenever her family tried to get her out of the house for some fresh air, she would have the delusions that it was raining heavily, making it impossible for her to leave the house.
“Eventually, my late stepmother realised that my condition was really not okay and she contacted a social worker for help,” said Ms Kim, whose condition was severe enough to qualify her for government disability benefits as she was unable to hold down a job.
After both her parents died, Ms Kim fell out with her step-siblings over money and plunged even deeper into dark solitude.
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marketing and promotions.Over a year ago, with the help of a social welfare counsellor, Ms Kim, who has never married, slowly began to come out of her shell.
When she started visiting the community social welfare centre in Seoul’s Gwanak district where she lives, Ms Kim would dress in dark colours, and wear a hat and a mask as she did not want to be recognised.
These days, although it is still hard for her to leave the house, she tries to visit the centre at least once a week to chat with her neighbours over a bowl of noodles.
“Coming here has made me feel better. I’ve started to overcome my social anxiety and step out into the world again. The more I interact with people who come here, the more I feel a sense of connection with them,” she said.
Bridging warm connections over ramyeon is exactly what Seoul city hopes to achieve with its “Seoul, No More Loneliness Initiative”. Rolled out in October 2024, it aims to support a growing number of residents struggling with loneliness and social isolation.
The “Heart Convenience Store” is part of Seoul Metropolitan City’s “Seoul Without Loneliness” five-year project to combat the growing problem of isolation and loneliness in the city.ST PHOTO: WENDY TEO
Confronting social isolation
According to 2024 data released by government agency Statistics Korea, there were 7.83 million single-person households in South Korea, making up 35.5 per cent of all households – nearly half of which are in the Seoul metropolitan area of Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon.
This is a marked increase from 2015, when single-person households across the country totalled 5.2 million.
The top three reasons for living alone are the death of a spouse, study and work purposes, and a desire for solitude. These align with the demographics of the single-person households, which consist mainly of the elderly – nearly 40 per cent – and individuals in their 20s and 30s, who make up about 35 per cent.
In Seoul, however, those in their 20s and 30s constitute the largest share of single-person households at 48.7 per cent, followed by the elderly at 27 per cent.
More than six in 10 people living alone in Seoul say they often feel lonely, according to recent research done by think-tank Seoul Institute.
In launching the five-year “Seoul, No More Loneliness Initiative”, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said “loneliness and isolation are not just personal challenges but societal issues we all need to address”.
To tackle the problem, the city has pledged 450 billion won ($422 million) over five years from 2024.
As part of the initiative, four Seoul Heart Convenience Stores were rolled out in April in four districts as a pilot. These stores serve as healing spaces within existing community welfare centres, designed to gently draw out the socially isolated and warm their hearts with a simple meal of ramyeon or other instant food.
I met Ms Kim on a recent weekday at the Seoul Heart Convenience Store in Gwanak district’s Seongmin Integrated Social Welfare Centre.
At the social welfare centre, visitors can enjoy massages, foot baths, a cup of tea and instant food like ramyeon while connecting with others in the neighbourhood.ST PHOTO: WENDY TEO
A study space for students had been converted to a cosy area where visitors are greeted with a cup of chamomile tea. They can relax in massage chairs, dip their feet in foot baths or enjoy the self-service instant food bar, which offers free food like ramyeon and kimchi.
While I was there, I noticed visitors both young and old popping in for a quick massage or just to enjoy a cup of tea. Three foot-bath set-ups also offer a nice sunset view of the hilly neighbourhood.
In a small room next door, counsellor Noh Mi-hee, 64, is on hand to measure visitors’ stress levels and lend a listening ear where needed.
“As I take their pulse (to assess stress), I usually start by asking about their daily routines. The seniors who visit often talk about their physical ailments first, but then they move on to talk about their past and often break down in tears. After letting it all out, they all say they feel relieved,” said Ms Noh.
At the “Heart Convenience Store” at Seoul’s Gwanak district’s social welfare centre, a counsellor is on hand daily to offer a listening ear and test the visitor’s stress levels.ST PHOTO: WENDY TEO
The centre’s director, Ms Son Soo-ah, said the “convenience store” sees about 40 visitors a day – almost half of them opting for counselling.
Most of those counselled have been assessed by the centre to be experiencing a high degree of social isolation.
Ms Son said: “Some are drawn by the word “heart,” wondering if it might offer them some comfort. Others come just because they hear they can have a bowl of ramyeon. It is a staple that South Koreans have enjoyed since childhood because it is cheap, convenient, filling and emotionally satisfying.
Besides enjoying the free food, visitors are also encouraged to take up classes such as aromatherapy and yoga to enhance their healing and increase their interaction with others.
Director of the Loneliness Countermeasures Division at Seoul Metropolitan Government, Mr Hwang Sung-won, told ST the four districts of Gwanak, Dobong, Dongdaemun and Gangbuk were selected for the pilot because they have higher proportions of single-person households, among other factors.
Each district has customised the project to suit the needs of their respective communities.
For example, in hilly Dobong district, the “convenience store” is a mobile booth that travels to the different areas of the district every month.
The Seoul government aims to roll out the stores to all 25 districts of the city by 2027.
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Dial 120 if lonely
Seoul city also launched a 24-hour Goodbye Loneliness Hotline 120, which has received 4,500 calls since April 1.
Ms Seo Eun-Jung, 59, is among the 20 trained counsellors working in shifts to man the hotline.
“People in their 20s and 30s often talk about dating abuse, job struggles and even sexual violence, especially women who feel they can’t talk to others about it. Middle-aged adults often struggle with job loss, fear of retirement or anxiety about the future,” she said.
“Women, in particular, struggle with domestic violence or the decision to divorce and seek reassurance through our conversations.”
The call centre’s director, Ms Lee Su-jin, said the anonymity of a phone call provides a safe space for lonely people to open up without the fear of being stigmatised.
“Many callers are in truly isolated and difficult situations, and starting with something as ‘light’ as loneliness actually makes it easier to identify isolated or reclusive households, allowing the authorities to respond more systematically,” said Ms Lee.
Director Hwang from the city government said loneliness should not be left solely to the government to fix – cooperation from society is essential too.
The city has partnered with private companies, including a bookshop chain and a food delivery platform, to publicise the Seoul Heart Convenience Stores and Goodbye Loneliness Hotline.
One of the partners is hy Co, the South Korean distributor of the Yakult probiotic drink that has a subscription base of 40,000 households in the city. The company trains its delivery staff to detect warning signs on their routes – such as uncollected deliveries or loss of contact – and raise alerts when necessary.
A hy spokesperson told ST that the company leverages its 50 years of last-mile delivery expertise to contribute as one of the partners of Seoul’s anti-loneliness initiative.
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Healed hearts helping others heal
Often, the best partners in the fight against loneliness are those who have been through it themselves.
Mr Jeong Yong-taek, 66, lost his business 10 years ago and was so overwhelmed by his debts that he lost his hearing and his marriage.
“Terrified of even the sunrise”, Mr Jeong isolated himself for five years. It was only in 2023 that a friend managed to convince him to seek help from his local community welfare centre.
He started with cooking classes as he was living alone and eating out was expensive. Over time, he found his social anxiety lessening as he opened up to new friends. His health also improved because he was eating better.
Mr Jeong Yeong-taek shut himself from society for five years after his marriage and business failed and was left heavily in debt. With the help of social services, he finally found his feet again and is now working as a counsellor to help others who were like him previously.ST PHOTO: WENDY TEO
Encouraged by his recovery, Mr Jeong eventually signed up for counselling training and received his certification in 2024.
“With this background, when I talk to isolated individuals, I share my experience in a very real way. And that’s when they begin to open their hearts,” he told me at the centre located in Gwanak district’s Sillim-dong neighbourhood. The centre is not part of the pilot.
As for Ms Kim, her life has transformed so much that she no longer hides behind a mask. She now dresses in brighter colours and greets people at the centre.
“The people I meet really seem to like me when I smile and greet them. That makes me feel healed, and I think they feel healed too. It feels like I have a family here.
“Someone actually asked if she could call me “mom” and I said ‘let’s go with ‘auntie’ instead,” she said with a shy smile.
- Wendy Teo is The Straits Times’ South Korea correspondent, based in Seoul. She covers issues concerning the two Koreas.
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