Seoul Global Center said Thursday it would offer expatriates more counseling services in more neighborhoods.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Onsite Counseling will be expanded to include more sites, professionals and areas of counseling for those who cannot visit the current centers.

The service that began in 2009 offers counseling in daily issues for foreigners living in highly foreign-populated areas such as Itaewon and Daerim Village.

Its services will be expanded to include help in finance and telecommunications on top of the existing medical, employment, legal, tax, labor and national pension counseling.

Starting in March, counseling will be offered to international students at Hanyang University, Sungkyunkwan University and Sookmyung Women’s University to make a total of 15 universities in the Seoul region that offer the services.

“We are increasing the medical consultation service, which received positive reactions last year, and offer support to foreigners so that they may be as comfortable as residents here in Seoul,” said one city official.

The service will be offered every Sunday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

As of September there were more than 279,000 foreign residents in the capital.

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldcorp.com)