'Homeless' shop name near Seoul Station sparks flyer debate between resident and owner

A "flyer debate" between a resident opposed to a shop near Seoul Station using the name "HOMELESS" and the owner who pushed back has gone viral online, drawing widespread attention to the storefront in a neighborhood known for its large homeless population.

Photos of several flyers posted outside the shop near Seoul Station on Monday spread across social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday.

The person who shared the photos, identified only as A, wrote that "in front of a rainy Seoul Station, people line up for free meals, while on the wall outside one shop, a debate was unfolding" — over "putting up a 'Homeless' sign on a street where homeless people walk."

The photos show a notice posted on the shop's glass window recruiting musicians under the heading "July Opening — Homeless, Staff Wanted," with a handwritten letter of protest from a resident of Cheongpa-dong posted beside it.

The resident, identified as B, wrote that upon seeing the shop's name was HOMELESS, they felt compelled to leave a note as a neighbor. "It appears to be a name that erases the reality of discrimination and exclusion faced by homeless people in the Seoul Station area, borrowing only the image to evoke an underground aesthetic," B wrote.

B added that the street is one where many homeless people actually pass through, yet "this space called HOMELESS does not appear to be a space for them, nor one they can freely enter."

"Using someone else's poverty as a style feels trite rather than avant-garde," B wrote, adding: "Using the harsh living conditions of others as a brand concept is deeply unpleasant to me as someone who shares this street. I sincerely hope this is not the shop's actual name."

Directly below B's letter, the shop owner, identified as C, posted a rebuttal.

C said the shop's name "was not created to demean homeless people or mock any particular group," drawing a comparison to other Korean restaurant names with provocative words. "There are places called 'Gangster Tteokbokki,' 'Idiot Octopus,' and 'Crazy Seasoned Chicken,' but no one takes those names literally and concludes they glorify organized crime or mock people with disabilities. We are no different," C wrote.

C went on to explain: "To us, HOMELESS does not mean a person without a home. It means someone who lives without a fixed affiliation — someone who builds their own world through art, music and travel; someone who values their own tastes and feelings over the standards society sets; someone who is somewhere in the world building a home of their own."

C said it was "regrettable that someone would take a single word out of context with a narrow-minded view and presume to define another person's intent and philosophy," adding: "The name stays."

"Instead, we trust that time will prove what this space means," C added.

Most online users who saw the post sided with the resident. Comments directed at the owner included: "Time will tell — it'll go under"; "That's the fate of a business that refuses to communicate with others"; "The location is the problem — at the very least, it shouldn't be visible to people who are actually suffering because they're homeless"; "Shallow philosophy"; "Isn't 'Nomad' more what you're trying to say?"; and "This is no different from narcissism — just lost in your own world."

Meanwhile, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government's 2025 Seoul Homeless Survey, the number of homeless people in Seoul has been rising since 2023, reaching 3,110 last year. Of those, 543, or 17.5 percent, refused shelter placement and lived on the streets. By district, Jung-gu — home to Seoul Station — had the highest number of street-dwelling homeless at 162, followed by Seocho-gu with 98, Yeongdeungpo-gu with 94 and Yongsan-gu with 74.