Additional Delivery Fees for Parcel Shipping to Connected Island Areas Will Be Removed

Assemblyman Seo Samsuk Leads to Abolish Additional Delivery Fees for Parcel Delivery in Connected Island Areas

[Sinan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Jae-kyung] Complaints from residents of connected island areas about additional delivery fees for parcel services are expected to be resolved.

Seo Sam-seok, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (Yeongam, Muan, Sinan), announced that he requested the three major parcel delivery companies (CJ, Lotte, Hanjin) to abolish the additional delivery fees that have been imposed without clear grounds or a systematic basis in connected island areas, and received an official response on the 30th of last month stating that they will "not impose additional delivery fees."

Parcel delivery services in island areas were previously limited by weather conditions and ferry operation times before the islands were connected by land. However, with the installation of bridges connecting the mainland and islands, 24-hour delivery has become possible, and logistics conditions have improved, enabling cost reductions. Despite this, additional delivery fees including ferry charges of up to 7,000 KRW have been collected.

Accordingly, on May 31, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission prepared a "Plan to Reduce Parcel Delivery Costs in Island Areas," which included measures to address problems in the calculation and imposition of additional delivery fees in connected island areas and to create reasonable plans through regular surveys, and recommended this to relevant government ministries.

After the recommendation was issued, as the normalization of parcel delivery fees did not proceed as quickly as island residents hoped, Seo Sam-seok planned to summon the CEOs of the three major parcel companies, which account for 70% of the national parcel volume, as witnesses at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries’ national audit scheduled for October 6, to raise the issue of additional delivery fees in connected island areas and demand their abolition.

Following several meetings between Seo’s office and the three parcel companies, Lotte Global Logistics announced via official letter that starting October 1, and CJ Logistics and Hanjin Express from November 1, they will no longer impose additional delivery fees in Sinan County and all connected island areas.

This abolition by the three parcel companies was a result of their acceptance of Seo’s office’s request, which included the condition that the additional burden would not be passed on to parcel collection points and delivery drivers.

Seo Sam-seok stated, “With the abolition of the additional parcel delivery fees, residents of connected islands including 19 islands in Jeonnam, as well as areas in Gyeongnam, Jeonbuk, and Chungnam, will no longer face discrimination in parcel delivery costs,” and added, “Other parcel companies besides the three major ones are negotiating with government ministries at the association level, and I will urge the government to promptly resolve this so that island residents are not further marginalized.”

He also said, “Parcel delivery to islands that are not connected by land remains a bigger challenge. Government support for ferry charges and other additional fees imposed on island parcel delivery must be established,” and “I will urge the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to prepare government measures at the upcoming audit on the 6th.”

Seo Sam-seok emphasized, “The number of inhabited islands has rapidly decreased from 472 in 2015 to 465 in 2021 due to automation, making various institutional improvements to improve living conditions urgent,” and stressed, “Every single resident living on an island is a patriot protecting our country’s territory, and there should never again be cases like differential parcel delivery fees without proper compensation.”

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