Lesson 2 From Tradition to Trend
K-Delivery, Speedy and Reliable
In Korea, nearly anything can be delivered within twenty-four hours.
Delivery is not limited to Korea;
however, a unique culture has developed around the Korean delivery industry.
People in Korea can order whatever they want whenever they want and have it delivered wherever they want.
Delivery apps rank stores by various standards: review scores, popularity, price, delivery fee, and distance, to name a few.
The speedy delivery of purchased items to your house is literally at the tips of your fingers.
What is the history behind this culture?
In 1768, Hwang Yun-seok, a scholar, made a diary entry after taking the gwageo, a public service entrance exam.
He wrote that he and his friends had ordered a delivery of naengmyeon for lunch.
Hwang’s diary is the first historical document indicating Koreans have been delivering food for at least two and a half centuries.
During the Joseon period, specialized people called jeonin delivered letters for a fee.
In the days before the modern address systems, letters were delivered by name and place of residence, so a jeonin had to know the local areas like the back of his hand.
Service prices were determined by schedule and distance.
During the Japanese colonial period, Seoul’s streets were filled with delivery professionals called “messengers,” most working for a company named Yongdalsa.
Many used bikes to speed up delivery.
When customers contacted Yongdalsa, a messenger went to pick up the item and then delivered it.
Delivery mistakes were rare.
Messengers were sometimes charged with carrying large bundles of cash, but they were unfailingly honest and accurate.
Customers trusted the messengers so much that they often did not check the items they received.
This messenger service was unique to Korea and was based on a culture of mutual trust and a hunger for speed.
It is possible that this paved the way for modern motorcycle delivery.
After Korea’s liberation from colonial rule, it was divided into two.
Then came the Korean War (1950-1953).
During this series of upheavals, Korea’s delivery system fell apart.
It was during the 1960s that delivery services grew again thanks to urbanization.
As economic development progressed, people flocked to urban areas, where labor became concentrated.
This boosted the demand for delivery services.
Deliveries of newspapers and milk quickly became popular.
During lunchtime, city centers were filled with restaurant workers delivering trays full of food, stacked on top of each other.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, caterers delivered homemade lunches in cloth bags to urban offices and returned later to collect empty dishes.
The delivery area grew rapidly.
In 1992, taekbae service, an express home delivery service through which a person receives an ordered item in at least a day or two was introduced.
On the first day, there were just two deliveries.
Now, millions of items are delivered daily.
On average, a South Korean uses taekbae sixty-five times per year.
It was the development of digital and information technology that enabled the remarkable growth of taekbae.
Logistics automation, GPS maps, and mobile applications have extended the range and scale of delivery services while keeping prices reasonable.
The phenomenal growth of e-commerce has driven the need for delivery services.
A rule of thumb for taekbae is next-day delivery; if a person orders something today, it should arrive tomorrow.
Taekbae is changing so rapidly that now more and more items are delivered on the same day they are ordered.
It is also possible to choose a specific date and time for delivery.
Taekbae services, beginning from foot-powered delivery, have grown by leaps and bounds thanks to advancements in technology.
Moreover, the services will likely be developed further due to continuing technological upheavals.
Drones and autonomous robots are being used to deliver items by logistics companies in foreign countries.
In Korea, companies are testing the possibility of using advanced equipment such as autonomous vehicles, delivery robots, and drones for deliveries.
It is fair to say that modern Korean life cannot function as it does without its delivery services.
To maintain trust with customers, the Korean delivery industry prioritizes rapid, safe, and affordable transportation.
These persistent efforts for reliability and the adoption of advanced delivery technology will continue being the driving forces that will move Korean delivery forward well into the future.
2과 본문 텍스트 파일 다운로드
2과 본문 전체 듣기
