Over 700 undocumented foreign delivery riders penalized in crackdown

A delivery rider navigates a street in Seoul. The Ministry of Justice announced a major crackdown on the food delivery sector following a surge in undocumented workers using proxy app accounts. Yonhap

A sweeping five-month investigation by the Ministry of Justice has exposed a sprawling underground network of undocumented foreign gig workers using stolen, borrowed or rented accounts to operate illegally within the nation’s food delivery sector.

Between January and May, immigration authorities intercepted 734 foreign riders and 16 local delivery agency operators for clear violations of the Immigration Act. The scale of the enforcement reveals a shifting labor landscape: the number of infractions represents an elevenfold spike compared to the 67 riders caught during the entirety of last year, illustrating an illicit market that has ballooned in tandem with the country’s heavily relied-upon smartphone delivery infrastructure.

According to data released by the ministry's Immigration and Foreign Policy Bureau, Vietnamese nationals comprised the vast majority of those caught, accounting for 61 percent (444 individuals). Chinese nationals made up 22 percent (164 individuals), followed by Uzbek workers at 12 percent (86 individuals).

More than half of the apprehended riders — 410 individuals — were residing in the country on international student (D-2) visas, cutting across 96 different domestic universities. Job seekers holding D-10 visas and overseas Koreans on F-4 status also made up significant portions of the pool.

The investigation laid bare a thriving black market driven by local logistics brokers who systematically rented out delivery app credentials.

In Seoul, one agency owner sublet digital app accounts to 67 foreign workers, charging each person a monthly "rent" of up to 250,000 won ($180). Another broker in nearby Incheon charged a weekly rate of 70,000 won per account. Because major food delivery applications require verified Korean residency or specific legal work permits to register, undocumented workers rely entirely on these proxy accounts to access the platforms.

Following the investigation, immigration authorities deported or ordered the departure of 68 foreign nationals, while levying collective fines totaling 1.63 billion won ($1.18 million) against 643 others. Seeking a structural fix, the justice ministry has formally recommended that major tech platforms implement mandatory facial recognition verification systems within their software to permanently block account sharing.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.