Ten WhatsApp groups moderated by long-term Seoul residents. Whoever you are, whenever you arrive, a community is already waiting. You will never stay alone in Seoul.
Back in late 2021, a group of us sitting in a Hongdae pojangmacha realised something simple: most of our best Seoul memories started with a stranger saying hi. So we started a WhatsApp group called "Seoul Welcome" and added anyone we met who was new in the city.
Within weeks it was 80 people. By early 2022 it had hit 250 - the WhatsApp group limit at the time - and we had to split it. Hikers wanted trail talk. Nomads wanted co-working meetups. Foodies wanted market and restaurant recommendations. The one group became three, then five.
Ten WhatsApp communities, each capped around 250 members, each moderated by 2 to 4 long-term Seoul residents. When you reach out, a human reads your message, checks which group fits, and adds you. We do not use bots, we do not sell numbers, we do not run ads in the chats.
It is a labor of love, paid for by the occasional restaurant that sponsors a members-only dinner and by a small number of members who buy us coffee when they can. That is it.
A rotating team of 12 moderators across Hongdae, Itaewon, Gangnam, Seongsu and Ikseondong. Half of us have been in Seoul 5+ years, half arrived in the last 18 months. We are not a business. We do not have an office. We meet for dinner every 6 weeks in different neighborhoods to keep sane.
Communities
Active members
Running since