Petition against proposed ban on early-morning delivery hits parliamentary platform
Published: 13 Nov. 2025, 21:09
![Parcels pile up at a logistics center in Seoul on Aug. 17, the final day of the courier industry’s designated delivery break. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/13/afcb311f-79e0-4cc0-bcc8-4b765c5575af.jpg)
Parcels pile up at a logistics center in Seoul on Aug. 17, the final day of the courier industry’s designated delivery break. [YONHAP]
A petition against a proposed ban on early-morning delivery — a topic that has recently emerged as a flashpoint between labor groups and the retail industry — is now taking signatures in a bid to preserve a service that it says is “not a matter of convenience but something that keeps daily life functioning.”
The petition was posted on the National Assembly’s public petition platform on Thursday.
The petitioner, who identified herself as a working mother of two, wrote that for dual-income parents who return home late, early-morning delivery “is not just a convenience but an essential means of sustaining everyday life,” adding that the issue “concerns the basic foundation that protects a family’s happiness, health, child care and education.”
She continued that regulations affecting industries closely tied to people’s lives and linked to large numbers of jobs “require careful consideration and discussion,” warning that an outright ban “would only lead to greater inconvenience and social conflict.”
“I hope the National Assembly and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will find a better alternative that reflects what people actually need,” she added.
![Delivery trucks are parked at a parcel terminal in Seoul on Aug. 14. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/13/792f1311-dbbf-4fa5-9a4f-e691274eb24a.jpg)
Delivery trucks are parked at a parcel terminal in Seoul on Aug. 14. [YONHAP]
A parcel delivery union affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions proposed during an October meeting of the courier industry’s social dialogue body that “ultra-late-night delivery” — services operating between midnight and 5 a.m. — be restricted to guarantee deliverers a minimum level of sleep and protect their health.
Logistics and retail companies have opposed the idea, arguing that it would inevitably cause consumer inconvenience and reduce logistics-sector employment, and noting that early-morning delivery has become deeply embedded in consumer lifestyles.
Public sentiment appears to lean toward the industry’s view. According to an online survey of 1,000 consumers conducted by the nongovernmental organization With Consumer and the civic group Korea Professional Organization for Consumer Issues, 64 percent of respondents said they would be inconvenienced if early-morning delivery were halted, while 99 percent of those who have used the service said they intend to continue using it.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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