[475 Culture] Speed Defines Korea’s Delivery Culture Where Fast Has Become a Way of Life

   “How did it arrive so quickly?” This is a common reaction among newcomers to South Korea. While similar orders can take days or even weeks in many other countries, Korea’s delivery standard is often next-day, even for groceries ordered at midnight. This remarkable speed is driven by the nation’s ppalli-ppalli culture, which the logistics industry has internalized as a competitive edge. This article explores the structural foundation of Korea’s delivery industry, the social context enabling its rapid pace, and the unseen costs that come with it.

How ppalli-ppalli forged the culture

   The ppalli-ppalli spirit dates back to Korea’s rapid industrialization. The term ppalli-ppalli, which repeats the Korean adverb ppalli, highlights a strong sense of speed and urgency. According to the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture, this mindset emerged during the 1960s and 1970s, a period when the nation was rebuilding after the Korean War and striving for modernization at an unprecedented pace. Speed became both a survival strategy and a symbol of national progress, an ethos that continues to shape Korea’s logistics system today.

   Korea’s courier culture vividly reflects the ppalli-ppalli spirit in everyday life. In the 1990s, customers often waited several days for deliveries. As internet shopping expanded and IT advanced in the 2000s, short-term delivery systems quickly spread. Consumers grew used to instant gratification, and logistics companies responded by automating systems, optimizing routes, and competing to cut delivery times. Today, same-day, overnight, and dawn delivery are everyday norms.

   According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s 2024 Delivery Service Evaluation, major courier companies in Korea achieved an average of 93.5 points in delivery promptness. This indicates that next-day delivery has become the norm nationwide. Major carriers such as Korea Post, CJ Logistics, Hanjin Express, and Lotte Global Logistics operate highly automated sorting hubs across the country and generally keep delivery windows to just one or two days. In metropolitan areas and some rural areas, companies such as Coupang and Kurly have introduced even faster services. These include Coupang’s “Rocket Delivery,” named for its speed, and Kurly’s “Saetbyeol Delivery,” inspired by the morning star and delivering fresh groceries at dawn. Both are premium services, such as “Rocket Fresh,” ensuring deliveries are completed by early morning. Although these premium services are mostly urban phenomena, the overall delivery speed across Korea remains remarkably consistent nationwide. 

Speed and the transformation of korean consumer culture

   Rapid delivery has fundamentally changed the way Koreans shop and live. The concept of waiting-free consumption has become embedded in daily routines. Groceries and household goods that once required a trip to a market or supermarket can now be ordered through a smartphone and received the next morning. According to Statistics Korea’s 2023 Online Shopping Survey, the total value of online transactions reached a record 227.3 trillion won. In addition, food and beverage sales rose 12.1% to 30.3 trillion won, while household goods climbed 8.5% to 19.7 trillion won, showing a shift from offline to online driven by efficient logistics. A report by the Korea Consumer Agency also shows that delivery delays now rank among the top customer complaints, alongside product damage and loss. This reflects a major shift in consumer expectations. Speedy delivery is no longer viewed as a premium service, but as a basic standard of quality.

   Speed-based consumption has also reshaped people’s sense of time. This competition has become highly segmented. Quick commerce services like Baemin’s “B-Mart” are waging a “minute-by-minute” speed war, delivering daily necessities within 30 minutes to an hour. This speed competition is not limited to food. Olive Young’s “Today Dream” service delivers cosmetics within three hours, and Naver has now launched the “Guaranteed Arrival” service, which ensures delivery on a specified date and compensates for delays. As a result, speed has become more than just a service; it is now the defining feature and a core survival strategy of Korea’s delivery culture. 

The hidden costs behind rapid delivery

   The culture of speed does not come without cost. Beneath the convenience of ultra-fast delivery lies the intense labor of thousands of logistics workers and couriers. Since 2020, South Korea has faced a series of highly publicized cases in which delivery workers were reported to have died after periods of heavy workload. These tragedies led to the establishment of a joint social council to address overwork, involving the government, labor unions, and logistics firms. They also exposed the dark side of the country’s express delivery system, sparking a national debate about working conditions in the logistics industry. One particularly tragic case that highlighted this trend occurred in October 2020, when an employee at Coupang’s Chilgok logistics center was found dead after an overnight shift. Investigations by the Ministry of Employment and Labor have frequently cited long hours, physically demanding sorting tasks, and inadequate rest despite growing automation. As competition for faster delivery intensifies, the burden on frontline workers has only increased. 

   Korea’s delivery industry is a testament to its technological efficiency, born from the ppalli-ppalli spirit. But now, the core of delivery should shift from “how fast can we deliver” to “how sustainably can we deliver.” Ultimately, the next evolution of ppalli-ppalli should be defined not by the time a parcel arrives, but by creating a system that is sustainable for both the people who make it possible and the society they live in. True progress will be measured not by speed alone, but by how well the industry protects the workers behind the parcels.