’Delivery for Seollal’

By Shim Hyun-chul

It is 4 a.m. when the darkness of winter morning still prevails. However, one building is lit as bright as day. It is the Dongseoul Mail Center where mail and parcels are classified before being distributed across the country. Scores of delivery trucks unload massive supplies of parcels to the center, creating a rampart of boxes.

People give gifts to their relatives and friends for “Seollal,” or Lunar New Year’s Day, and the season is one of the busiest times for the courier business.

Local post offices are devoting all their energy to deliver the parcels safely and on time. Korea Post expects some 11.6 million letters and parcels will make their way to their destinations, an increase of about 350,000 from the previous year. An additional 3,000 employees have been assigned to handle them.

The Dongseoul Mail Center is the largest mail center in Korea and more than 200 trucks come in and out of the facility during peak seasons.