Homeless memorial commemorates 435 deaths in Seoul over last year

At least 435 homeless people have died in Seoul over the past year, according to a local advocacy group. Amid the usual bustle outside Seoul Station Square on Dec. 15, members of the Homeless Memorial Ceremony Joint Planning Committee began laying out two long red cloths along the two central staircases, on top of which they placed 435 plastic roses, each representing a homeless person reported dead in Seoul over the past year. Attached to each rose was the name and a brief profile of the deceased, all but eight of whom were registered as “muyeongo samang,” or unclaimed deaths, meaning there were either no surviving relatives or no one to claim their remains. Called a “stairway of memory,” the display marked the start of the annual Homeless Memorial Week in Seoul, which will culminate in an outdoor interactive art exhibit at the same location at 2 p.m. on Monday, followed by a ceremony and march at 7 p.m. The staircase of memory is set up every weekday at 4 p.m. through the day of the ceremony, and participants and passersby are encouraged to take part in an in-person and online