Assemblyman Jo O-seop: "Shipping Costs in Island Areas Vary Greatly... System Improvement Needed"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] It has been revealed that island and mountainous areas are experiencing unfair charges due to special delivery fees.

Parcel delivery companies are unfairly imposing special delivery fees by considering inhabited islands connected by bridges or embankments as island areas, and delivery fees vary greatly by company, highlighting the need for institutional improvements such as an additional cost reporting system.

According to Assemblyman Jo O-seop (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Buk-gu Gap) on the 16th, South Korea has a total of 465 inhabited islands with a population of 832,848, and 77 island areas connected by bridges or embankments.

Among them, 52 inhabited islands with bridges or embankments connected for more than 10 years and thus excluded from island areas under the Island Development Promotion Act have a population of 705,748, while 25 inhabited islands connected for less than 10 years have a population of 23,642. There are 388 inhabited islands not connected by bridges or embankments, with a population of 103,458.

Parcel companies impose additional costs in the form of special delivery fees by region, citing the need to use ships rather than vehicles in island and mountainous areas.

However, special delivery fees are also imposed on 77 inhabited islands connected by bridges or embankments where vehicle delivery is possible, causing unfair damage to 729,390 people, accounting for 87% of the total inhabited island population.

Additionally, Jeju Island, classified as an island area in e-commerce, was found to have special delivery fees imposed on 46.6% of cases.

Recently, Jeju Island and the Green Consumer Network surveyed delivery fees for 915 items in 10 island areas, finding that cases where additional special delivery fees were charged averaged 50%.

Comparing delivery fees between mainland and island areas, the average delivery fee on the mainland was 527 won, while the average delivery fee in island areas was 3,057 won, 5.8 times higher, with special delivery fees averaging 2,754 won (parcel deliveries without fees were treated as 0 won).

Furthermore, price differences for special delivery fees varied by 3 to 5 times or more depending on the company and product.

Assemblyman Jo O-seop said, “The average number of parcel deliveries per person in South Korea is 53.8 times, with total parcel volume reaching 2.789 billion last year, and this year, with the outbreak of COVID-19, it is expected to increase by at least 10%. As the parcel logistics industry grows quantitatively, it is necessary to establish basic logistics rights and introduce an additional cost reporting system to resolve the polarization of logistics services.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.