Meet the people who make a caring city. Meet your Seoul mates. The warmth of a city grows from the everyday moments of people who stay beside one another. 『Seoul Mate 365』 captures the stories of those who help shape a caring Seoul. Here, you will meet the steadfast, caring mates of Seoul. From the Humanities of Hope Program, community restaurants, Seoul Software Academy (SeSAC), to Stepping Stone Income, the book follows the lives of friends whose life’s seeds take root and grow through the cycle of the 24 solar terms. In their journeys-blooming amid both heat and cold, hope and uncertainty-you will discover messages of courage and comfort. To help you experience a more caring Seoul, the book offers: My Caring Words, where you write down passages that resonate with you; My Caring Diary, where where simple questions invite reflection on your own moments of care; and Companionship Through the 24 Solar Terms, bookmarks that capture how our daily lives and Seoul’s stories of companionship shift with the seasons. These pages allow the caring moments held within Seoul to gently seep into your day. Now, shall we turn the page? Your journey of care begins-with friends by your side and the city of Seoul.

프롤로그 Spring - Starting Over Lee Ju-bin: So Caregiving Doesn’t Become Your Entire Life ▶ Young Family Caregiver Support ? My Caring Words ? My Caring Diary Lee Ju-eun: Hearing the Words: Thank you, You’re Still Amazing ▶ Seoul Wounded Veteran Support Center ? My Caring Words ? My Caring Diary Summer - Open Possibilities Seomun Min-gyeong: Time to Learn About Myself and the World ▶ Seoul Learn ? My Caring Words ? My Caring Diary Kim Min-a: Finding a New Path Where I Once Stopped ▶ Seoul Software Academy (SeSAC) ? My Caring Words ? My Caring Diary Fall - Sharing and Shining Hong Yeong-gi & Park Seong-sun: A Caring Restaurant Where Customers Become Family ▶ Community food bank ? My Caring Words ? My Caring Diary Hong Min-gi: With Someone to Lean On, I Learned to Stand Again ▶ Stepping Stone Income ? My Caring Words ? My Caring Diary Kim Jeom-su: A Flicker of Hope That Lifts People Up ▶ Seoul Humanities of Hope ? My Caring Words ? My Caring Diary Winter - Rising Together Kwon Yu-ri: Things Only Someone Who Has Been Alone Can Understand ▶ Support for Isolated and Socially Withdrawn Youth ? My Caring Words ? My Caring Diary Song Hui-seok: To Be Independent Together, Not Alone ▶ Support for Care Leavers ? My Caring Words ? My Caring Diary Kang Min-ji: Embracing Loneliness Instead of Running Away ▶ Goodbye Loneliness Helpline120 ? My Caring Words ? My Caring Diary Companionship Through the 24 Solar Terms

Just because you’re a caregiver doesn’t mean you should push yourself too far back-I hope you also work hard at caring for yourself. It won’t be easy, but so that caregiving doesn’t become your entire life, I hope you don’t let go of your dreams and make time for them. We are all amazing people doing our best in this intense world. It may sound obvious, but I want to leave you with this: I hope you become someone who knows how to love and encourage yourself, someone who is caring toward both yourself and others.
Lee Ju-bin: So Caregiving Doesn’t Become Your Entire Life

They hugged me and said, “Thank you for protecting our country.” It had been four years since my injury. I realized I had never once thought of myself as someone who was injured while protecting the country. I’d heard countless words of concern-but it was the first time anyone had said, “Thank you.” At that moment, the word honor stopped feeling abstract. It became something real and alive.
Lee Ju-eun: Hearing the Words: Thank you, You’re Still Amazing

Looking back, I think I struggled in middle school because I denied my poverty, and my depression worsened in high school because I denied my depression. As time passed, I realized that maybe those parts are also part of who I am. As I gradually accepted myself, I became able to open up to close friends about my pain and struggles. Now, I want to live true to myself.
Seomun Min-gyeong: Time to Learn About Myself and the World

I’ll remember it as a period that made me who I am today. Without that time, without entering this industry, would I have ever thought about becoming an automotive security expert? It was through trial and error that I gained my current insights and discovered my dream. The passing time may even make that period even seem “cute.” Because I know I’ll face more trials and errors in the future.
Kim Min-a: Finding a New Path Where I Once Stopped

At first, we’d only heard about jjokbangchon on the news-we didn’t know what the actual living conditions were like. But when I actually stepped foot, it was beyond my imagination. Having seen the harsh reality, I couldn’t just drop off food and leave. So delivery has also become a way of checking on the elderly residents. Many people need someone to talk to. Even when I’m pressed for time with many deliveries left, they often hold my hand and keep talking about themselves. Time is tight, but me listening is a great comfort to them.
Hong Yeong-gi & Park Seong-sun: A Caring Restaurant Where Customers Become Family

No matter how hard things are-even if you feel like giving up-if you let go now, everything collapses. Find and use whatever system you can. If you keep living with determination, you eventually find breathing room, and a path appears. I hope you believe that path could lead to a future for you and your family.
Hong Min-gi: With Someone to Lean On, I Learned to Stand Again

To hope and hold on to your dreams-it probably sounds too clich?. It did for me too. What I want to say is just one thing: Don’t give up. People collapse more easily than you’d think. Once you decide to give up everything, it becomes really hard to get back up. But if you hold on without giving in, opportunities will come.
Kim Jeom-su: A Flicker of Hope That Lifts People Up

I feel beauty in everyday scenes. During my isolation, I thought society had abandoned me. But my perspective changed. I became grateful for a world willing to help someone like me. I also realized the world is full of caring people.
Kwon Yu-ri: Things Only Someone Who Has Been Alone Can Understand

Independence was hard. Reality was very different. While employment relieved my financial burden, my life skills were still full of gaps. At the bank, I didn’t know the procedure for opening an account, so I kept asking awkward questions at the counter. I didn’t even know basic routines, like taking out the trash according to the schedule, so I’d often bring the trash back inside. That’s when I realized that independence isn’t just about financial stability-it’s about learning and taking responsibility for every small part of daily life.
Song Hui-seok: To Be Independent Together, Not Alone

The most important thing is not running away. When someone reaches out a hand, don’t refuse it-accept that help. It may not be easy at first, but from the moment you gather the courage to take that hand, the hardened walls around your heart will begin to crack. As those walls gradually crumble, you can step outside again.
Kang Min-ji: Embracing Loneliness Instead of Running Away

None of us is in life alone. Some lose their way, some falter at life’s thresholds, and some remain long in silence. But what if, in those moments, the city reached out first? That wish is contained in the title Seoul Mate 365. A companion who stays by your side, 365 days a year. A friend-like presence that reaches out first, even when you don’t call-quietly walking through life with you. It is a promise that the city will play that role, and this book captures the stories of countless people and policies that have brought that promise to life. Caring Seoul, Faces in the City That Walk Side by Side We live in Seoul, passing by countless people every day. At first glance, it may seem like a complex, busy space-but within it have always been neighbors who quietly make room beside you, systems that offer warm responses, and people who willingly reach out a helping hand. Why does the city talk about “caring Seoul”? Because the city is not simply a collection of buildings and roads, but a community shaped by human connections and the warmth that fills the space between them. The policies Seoul has pursued with the vision of “Seoul, My Seoul” are not merely welfare measures, but the institutional expression of citizens’ daily strength to live together, with mutual respect and care. This book captures both the implementers and beneficiaries of those caring policies-and the moments when care quietly seeped into their lives. Through the themes of caregiving, inclusion, mutual prosperity, coexistence, recovery, and connection, we hope to show how Seoul, as a living city, moves in caring ways toward its people. Seoul is no longer a distant or unfamiliar city. For some, it is a place of daily recovery; for others, a fence that shelters new dreams; _ and for many, a friend-a “mate” to lean on without hesitation when they’re lost. To you who open this book, we hope Seoul becomes that kind of caring mate.