'A place I'm grateful for': Inside Korea's laundromats of solitude and hope

A laundromat is more than just a place to wash clothes for some Koreans, becoming a quiet refuge where they celebrate birthdays, spend time alone and leave behind brief notes of gratitude as they navigate the struggles of everyday life, from unemployment to the growing difficulty of buying a home.

A number of notes stuck to the wall of a laundromat in Goyang, Gyeonggi, offer glimpses into the lives of people who quietly left behind stories of their daily struggles, loneliness and small moments of happiness.

One cryptic note read, “Happy birthday to me. Jan. 8,” while another said, “A place I’m grateful for, where I learned to rest for two years. I’m returning to my family home, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget the time I spent here.”

Young and old, foreigners and students passed through the laundromat, leaving behind thoughts about everything from their laundry to jobs, rent, married life and their hopes for the future. Most were people living alone.

"That’s been the case since 2015, when single-person households first outnumbered two-person households nationwide," said the owner of a 24-hour unmanned laundromat in Goyang.

Single-person households accounted for just over a third of all households in Korea last year, making them the country’s most common household type.

Hopes for a better future

On the evening of Aug. 13, three of the eight washers and dryers at the laundromat were running. Kim Kyung-pil, 31, was reading a book as he waited for his laundry to finish.

“I bring large loads, such as bedding, here, or use the dryers for towels that don’t dry easily,” he said.

Kim moved from Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, three years ago after landing a job at a nearby factory. He rented a six-pyeong (213-square-foot) semi-basement studio for a 3 million won ($2,200) deposit and 250,000 won in monthly rent. “For now, I’d like to move into a place that gets more sunlight and is at least a little bigger,” he said.

Kim is far from alone in having that aspiration.

“I moved here to the gosiwon [small private rooms with shared bathrooms] district a year ago,” said a 30-year-old surnamed Oh at a laundromat in Sillim-dong, Gwanak District, southern Seoul, on Sunday, as Oh waited for the laundry to finish. “I paid 5 million won for the deposit and 600,000 won in monthly rent to live in a six-pyeong unit. I made it to Seoul, but I still want to have a decent home.”

Oh began working at a hospital in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi, before taking a leave of absence. She moved to Seoul after landing a new job at a hospital in Gwanak.

The Seoul metropolitan area is home to 43 percent of the country’s population. The Presidential Committee for Balanced Regional Development attributed the concentration primarily to young people moving to the capital region in search of higher wages. In 2023, the average income of people aged 15 to 39 who moved to the capital region for work rose 22.8 percent on year, compared to a 12.1 percent increase for those who remained employed outside the region.

But moving to the capital region did not translate into a comparable improvement in their quality of life. Fixed expenses rose, with housing costs among the biggest burdens. In Seoul, more than 22 percent of after-tax income goes toward housing rent.

For Oh, monthly rent was the biggest strain among her fixed expenses. “I applied for a public rental housing program, but I kept getting rejected because my income was just slightly above the eligibility limit for single-person households of young people,” Oh said.

The annual income threshold Oh must stay below is 34.32 million won, or 90 percent of the average income of urban workers this year. Qualifying for Seoul’s youth rent subsidy is also difficult. Even someone earning only the minimum wage makes about 2.23 million won a month, while the subsidy is limited to those earning no more than 1.64 million won a month, or 60 percent of median income. The government plans to raise the income threshold to 100 percent of median income, or 2.7 million won a month, amid criticism that too few young people qualify for the benefit.

Rents and deposits in the Seoul metropolitan area continue to rise. According to the Korea Real Estate Board's combined housing rental index for apartments, row houses and detached homes in the capital region stood at 102.55 in June, based on January 2026 as 100, up 4.5 percent from 98.12 a year earlier.

Kim Hyung-in is preparing for the civil service exam to become a government official. He has been studying for the exam for five years while living in a studio apartment in Sillim-dong. On Sundays, he does all his laundry at once and heads to the laundromat. It is just outside his home, so he sometimes goes there in his pajamas.

“Artificial intelligence cannot take over government jobs. A major part of a civil servant’s work is handling public complaints, which is something only humans can do. That makes me even more committed to becoming a civil servant,” Kim said.

Kim’s concerns reflect those of many young people: 53.9 percent say they are worried about AI replacing their jobs, according to the Federation of Korean Industries.

 “We are seeing the unusual phenomenon of youth employment weakening even as the growth rate rises,” said Choi Chul, a professor of consumer economics at Sookmyung Women’s University. “The government is likely to announce measures to address youth employment soon, but simply focusing on increasing the number of new jobs would only create more temporary positions. Instead, it needs to take a structural approach, including tailored measures that account for the impact of AI across generations, industries and occupations.”

Stories across generations, nationalities

Laundromats are not frequented only by young single-person households.

On Monday afternoon, Kim Hak-yeon, 70, walked into a laundromat in Goyang, carrying a large load of laundry.

“I retired from my job and drove a village bus for a while. Now I deliver credit cards. The sweat I work up walking around from place to place is the real deal,” he said. “After I finish my delivery quota, I wash my clothes at home and must dry them here. Even if you live alone, you can’t go around smelling like a widower. I’ve got to keep working, too.”

Kim said, “I can’t make ends meet on the 700,000 won I receive in the national pension, so I can’t afford to stop working.”

“Fortunately,” he said, his income was not high enough to trigger a reduction in his pension. Under the previous rules, National Pension recipients who continued working and earned between 3.09 million won and 5.09 million won a month could see their monthly pension reduced by up to 150,000 won. Under a recent amendment to the National Pension Act, the government will now pay the full pension without reductions to recipients earning up to 5.09 million won a month.

After hearing about the change, Kim responded, “But have I ever even made 3.09 million won a month?”

In 2024, workers in their 60s earned an average of 2.93 million won a month, while those aged 70 and older earned an average of 1.65 million won, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The average for workers in their 60s was higher even than that for workers in their 20s, at 2.71 million won.

Single-person households accounted for 36.6 percent of all households in Korea last year, according to the government data, more than double the 15.5 percent recorded in 2000. Of the country’s 22.5 million households, 12.4 percent were one-person households made up of people in their 20s and 30s, while those in their 60s and 70s accounted for 11 percent.

Laundromats have grown alongside that trend. According to the Korea Consumer Agency, total sales at laundromat franchise outlets grew an average of 22.7 percent annually from 40 billion won in 2016, surpassing 100 billion won in 2020 and reaching the 200 billion-won range last year. The number of laundromats grew from around 3,500 to more than 4,500 during that period.

The share of single-person households has also risen as more foreigners have come to Korea on their own to earn a living.

Jin, 28, from China, works at a duty-free shop and spoke with the JoongAng Ilbo at a laundromat in Bongcheon-dong, Gwanak District, Seoul. Suning, 23, from Nepal, was doing business studies at a university in the Seoul metropolitan area when spoken with at a laundromat in Goyang.

Foreign residents accounted for 5.4 percent of Korea’s population last year, or 2.78 million people. Nearly half — 45.3 percent — were in their 20s and 30s, according to the Ministry of Justice.

“I haven’t had naengmyeon [cold noodles] even once in my two years living in Korea. How can I afford to study here when a bowl costs 15,000 won? Even if I want to work, I’m only allowed to work at bars and can’t take other jobs…” Suning said.

International students in Korea are currently allowed to take only short-term part-time jobs. Discussions have continued over expanding the types of work they can take on, including to help address labor shortages and develop skilled talent. Still, it remains unclear whether such changes will be implemented.

One note on the wall read, “I’m struggling. What should I do?”

Someone had replied, “You’ll get through it. I’m rooting for you.”

The laundromat runs around the clock, quietly spinning through the night — washing away the stains on people’s clothes and, perhaps, for a moment, easing some of the burdens they carry.

BY KIM HONG-JUN [[email protected]]