Foreign delivery workers using borrowed accounts surge 11-fold

Delivery riders travel on a road in Seoul, June 3. Yonhap

The number of foreign workers engaged in illegal delivery services has jumped over 10 times from a year earlier, the justice ministry said Monday.

According to the ministry, 734 foreigners were caught between January and May working illegally as delivery persons, using borrowed service accounts, up nearly 11 times from 67 cases recorded in all of 2025.

By country, those from Vietnam accounted for the largest share at 61 percent, followed by Chinese at 22 percent and Uzbeks at 12 percent.

By visa type, students on D-2 visas made up 56 percent, followed by overseas Koreans on F-4 at 20 percent and job seekers at 14 percent.

Among those caught, 68 foreigners were deported and 643 were fined a combined total of 1.62 billion won ($1.06 million). Sixteen delivery agencies are also under investigation for providing their delivery application accounts to unqualified foreigners.

To root out unqualified foreign riders, the justice ministry has urged delivery platform companies to implement facial recognition systems within their rider apps and strengthen their oversight of local agencies, according to ministry officials.

"We will crack down not only on illegal foreign riders but also on brokers providing accounts to them to prevent the displacement of local jobs," Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho said, pledging to cooperate with relevant agencies and platform companies to tackle the problem.