First-time visitors to Korea are surprised at the sheer speed of Korean society. At any major intersection in the city, a phalanx of motorcycles and motor scooters will form, representing a lifeline of delivery services for office documents as well as take-out meals for apartment dwellers. Fleets of delivery trucks and vans, sporting business logos, are on road from the early dawn until late at night. What are the factors behind this near-obsession with speedy delivery in Korea? Korea’s Delivery Culture In the case of a 31-year-old employee of the planning department of an advertising firm, his group regularly submits proposals for competitive bid projects. Above all, the bid deadline is sacrosanct, with no exceptions for any late submissions, which are automatically rejected. However, proposals are routinely submitted at the last minute due to a desire to put together an exceptional submission, which often requires final changes and finishing touches. As such, it is constantly a race against time to prepare the best possible proposal and then assure its delivery within the stated deadline. This being the case, delivery by the post office or even one-day courier service is not acceptable, with everything riding on the bidder’s receipt of the proposal by the deadline. As such, while a large-size business might be able to dispatch a staff person, a more convenient alternative is the so-called “quick service” system in Korea, in which a mobile-phone dispatched motorcycle delivery person will pick up your package and have it delivered to anywhere in Seoul within 40-60 minutes. Indeed, this delivery service is renowned for its reliability, safely handling any envelope or package that can be strapped onto the luggage rack of a motorcycle. A 27-year-old office worker, who has been at his first job for two years, sighs with relief whenever he recalls his near-disaster on Parents’ Day. As an only child, he was constantly pampered by his parents while growing up and until he moved to Seoul for his work. It was already noon on Parents’ Day before he even realized what day it was. In fact, he should have taken the time to visit his parents on the previous weekend to express his appreciation for their support. Now, it was too late to consider a trip home, involving a three-hour train ride. Under the circumstances, he decided that the delivery of flowers would be the best solution for his problem. So, he turned to the Internet to place an online order. After finding a site for flower delivery, he found a nicely arranged basket of carnations from the product menu. Satisfied with the price, he wrote out a short message for the card, entered the delivery address, and clicked the “confirm” button to submit the order. By that afternoon, the flower arrangement had been safely delivered to the home of his parents, who called him before the end of the work day to thank their dutiful son. In this way, delivery culture has long been an integral aspect of the everyday life of Koreans, for which a vast array of products and services only requires a phone call or Internet transmission. For office workers who rush off to work in the morning, many take advantage of breakfast delivery services, which offer breakfast meals, as well as milk, yogurt, and juice. This service is especially convenient and economical for single office workers living on their own. Meanwhile, Internet shopping is growing by leaps and bounds, not only for gift and luxury items, but everyday goods as well. Nowadays, it would be no problem to get by on delivery services alone, without needing to leave the comfort of your home. State-of-the-art System When people first experience “quick service,” in which a delivery person shows up in a matter of minutes after you call in a request, they are amazed by the speediness. To understand how such a quick and reliable delivery service is possible, it would be helpful to describe the handling of a delivery request. As for the advertising company employee mentioned above, his paramount concern is the timely delivery of his department’s bid package. For this, he contacts a quick service business by phone and provides information about the pickup location, delivery destination, and phone numbers. Then, among the delivery choices – urgent, regular, and discount – he requests urgent, which is the most expensive but also the fastest. With the information of your delivery request, the delivery office checks its GPS to locate and dispatch the delivery person closest to the pickup point. The delivery person receives the instructions on his PDA and heads for the advertising company office. After picking up the bid package, he immediately makes his way to the drop-off destination, while relying on his mobile communication device to monitor real-time traffic conditions along his intended route. When the delivery is completed, the delivery person sends a confirmation to his office, which transmits a text message to the sender that includes the drop-off time and name of the recipient. This process, which all takes place within an hour or less, serves as a cornerstone of the infrastructure that supports Korea’s business world. Information Society So, how did this Korean-style delivery culture take root in the everyday life of Korean society? These days, delivery services are much more developed and prevalent not only in Korea but in other countries as well. With the popularity of online shopping among consumers, delivery services have proliferated worldwide, distributing the products ordered by online purchasers. Still, Korea is distinctive for its obsession with the speed of delivery services. The proprietor of a Chinese restaurant in a college neighborhood advertises a guarantee for the delivery of any food order within five minutes, or else the food is free. Known by his nickname of Lightning, word of his high-speed delivery service has spread throughout the country. In this way, Koreans are used to quick and speedy service. In the early 20th century, in the West, Europeans referred to Korea as the “Land of the Morning Calm.” At that time, Koreans were characterized by their white-cotton attire, and leisurely pace, with little apparent concern for the hustle and bustle of modern life. In addition, their definition of time and distance would be expressed with vague notions. For example, an appointment might be scheduled for a time after “we have eaten and digested our meal,” or the distance to a neighborhood would be described as “the time it takes to smoke a cigarette.” However, the devastation of the Korean War (1950-53) seriously traumatized the people of Korea, with scenes of catastrophe and tragedy in every direction, such as people clambering along the support beams of a bridge across the Hangang River that had been destroyed; residents struggling desperately to get onboard an evacuation vessel, just ahead of an onslaught of enemy troops; and trains packed to the roof with evacuees with a single thought: survival. Countless families ended up being permanently separated due the conflict’s turmoil, while the fate of an individual could be determined by a split-second instance, like jumping aboard a rescue ship or being left ashore. During the 50 years that followed the war, Korea’s recovery from the vast wartime destruction has been highlighted by one of the most rapid economic development processes in world history. Due to a relative lack of natural resources, Korea has focused on the development of its manpower to assure its economic survival. Meanwhile, managing personal relationships was critical in this densely populated country, where few matters are as straightforward as they might seem. An entanglement of circumstances and relations called for careful deliberation at all times. Being a late starter in the race for security and prosperity, Korean society was plagued by a belief that catching up with the world would require everything to be completed as quickly as possible, with never a moment to waste. This historical background fostered a sensitivity to speed, and in a half century Korea transformed from the “Land of the Morning Calm” to “Dynamic Korea.” A lightning-quick delivery network is a product of Korea’s post-war period, when people, amidst widespread devastation, struggled to survive from day to day. But, by eliminating the unnecessary steps of a process and emphasizing agility over formality, Koreans came to be known as “hasty,” which cast Korea in a less than positive light. However, this penchant for speed has become a potent force in the 21st century’s information age, which features high-speed network connections. Speed equals competitiveness in the information age, and only those who can adapt to this reality will survive. Koreans have actively acculturated themselves, readily adopting rapidly changing technologies with an agility that is ideally suited to the digital environment. The most noteworthy characteristic of Korea, according to world-renowned futurist Alvin Toffler, is “speed.” And the quick delivery services are a prime example of this “speed,” which is indispensable to Korea’s advancement. In line with the rapid pace of Korea’s metropolises, its delivery culture helps to assure that the busy daily rhythms of Korean society can continue uninterrupted.