The water was waist-deep: Why a delivery driver risked his life during a flood in Korea
A restaurant worker wades through waist-deep floodwaters to hand a salad to a delivery driver. Captured from Instagram
Amid record-setting rainfall in Korea last month, a delivery driver waded through waist-deep floodwaters to pick up food from a restaurant in Gwangju — sparking both admiration and concern online.
On July 17, more than 400 millimeters of rain fell in Gwangju, inundating neighborhoods and shutting down roads. Despite the conditions, one delivery driver was seen braving the flood to fulfill an order, a moment that quickly went viral.
On Aug. 4, the owner of a salad shop in Gwangju's Buk District posted security footage on social media along with a message: “At 5 p.m. on July 17, when the water reached waist level, a legendary delivery driver still picked up the order. I’m trying to find him.”
The video shows the driver parking his motorcycle on the edge of a flooded street, then wading through strong currents toward the store. A restaurant worker, also standing in waist-high water, hands over a plastic bag of food. The driver holds the package carefully above his head to keep it dry and makes his way back through the water. The food, the owner confirmed, was delivered safely.
The restaurant owner explained that the shop had briefly closed due to the flood and had started canceling orders — only to discover the driver had already arrived. “I was shocked when he came through the water,” she wrote. “I rushed upstairs to grab the food and brought it down. I’m so grateful and want to find him. If the man in the video sees this, we’ll treat you as a VIP at our restaurant.”
Within just one day, the video racked up over 7.5 million views and 2,000 comments, with many calling the driver a hero.
Canceling an order means penalties: Delivery driver speaks out
The driver eventually left a comment identifying himself and explaining his decision.
“I had to pick up the food, but the road was flooded and blocked off, so the only option was to walk through,” he said. “The current was strong enough to sweep you away if you lost focus. Even the police tried to stop me, but I crossed because the customer was waiting.”
To those who criticized the act as reckless, he responded, “It wasn’t that I ignored the risks. I didn’t realize the area was flooded when I accepted the order. By the time I got there and saw the situation, I’d already come too far to turn back.”
As for suggestions that the delivery fee was high enough to justify the risk, he clarified, “It was only 7,000 won (about $5.40).”
Beyond personal risk, the driver raised concerns about the delivery platform’s structure. “This isn’t just about individual recklessness,” he said. “There are still systems in place that assign deliveries in dangerous conditions and penalize cancellations.”
He added, “We, as drivers, know better than anyone that this kind of work isn’t worth risking our lives for. And yet, we push forward between the platform and the customer to deliver on time. I hope people take a closer look at the reality we face working under these conditions.”
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.