'Pregnant Women Item Service' via Non-Face-to-Face Postal Delivery... Ministry of the Interior and Safety - Korea Post Agreement

Stepwise Provision Aligned with Nationwide Expansion of the 'Mampyeonhan Pregnancy Integrated Service'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] From now on, items such as folic acid and iron supplements provided to pregnant women will be delivered more safely and conveniently to their homes through Korea Post parcel service.

On the 23rd, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Korea Post announced through a business agreement that the item services provided uniformly nationwide to pregnant women, including folic acid and iron supplements, as well as items provided independently by local governments, will be improved to a non-face-to-face system.

The improved item service through this agreement will be provided step-by-step in line with the nationwide expansion of the "Mom Comfortable Pregnancy Integrated Service," which has been piloted since last year in 20 local governments.

Last year, the number of births in South Korea was 270,000, with the number of deaths surpassing births for the first time, and the resident registration population decreased by 20,838 compared to 2019.

The Mom Comfortable Pregnancy Integrated Service aims to overcome the low birthrate and aging population issues and create an environment conducive to having and raising children. It seeks to improve the current system where pregnant women must visit health centers and community centers multiple times to apply for various pregnancy support services by integrating guidance and applications through Government24 (online) and health/community centers (offline).

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety piloted this service in 20 cities, counties, and districts in June last year and plans to expand it nationwide this year. In particular, through this agreement, a non-face-to-face service using Korea Post parcel delivery will be introduced for item support services such as folic acid and iron supplements. Delivery workers will visit health centers to receive items non-face-to-face and then deliver them non-face-to-face to locations pre-selected by pregnant women.

Additionally, the agreement applies significantly discounted parcel delivery fees, allowing pregnant women to use delivery services at a lower cost without multiple visits to health centers, thereby promoting non-face-to-face services in the COVID-19 era. Minister Jeon Hae-cheol stated, “This agreement is the first step toward nationwide implementation of the Mom Comfortable Pregnancy Integrated Service. We will continue to improve services and collaborate to create an environment where pregnant women can give birth and raise children with peace of mind, doing our best to overcome the low birthrate issue.”

Park Jong-seok, head of the Korea Post, said, “This agreement will help resolve inconveniences for pregnant women and contribute to the birth of healthy children. We will continue to improve and support postal services so that Korea Post can expand its public interest role.”

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