"50,000 Steps a Day for 90,000 Won: Why the 'Original K-Delivery' Tray Service at Namdaemun Is Coming to a Halt"

Balancing Aluminum Trays, Walking Briskly...
A 40-Year Market Legacy at Risk

Sales Halved Amidst Declining Market District...
"Cutting Back on Meal Expenses First"

E-Commerce Onslaught, Soaring Vacancy Rates...
Self-Employed Merchants Facing Their Limits

"I started this job when my first child was born and was seven years old. I didn’t want my child to go hungry—I had to do something. My baby? She's already fifty-one now."

Around noon on June 16th, at Namdaemun Market in Jung-gu, Seoul, Heeja Oh (76) moved quickly through the early summer heat, with daytime temperatures nearing 32 degrees Celsius. She has been working as a "tray delivery worker" in the market’s alleys for 44 years.

Holding a handwritten order slip in one hand and balancing three stacked aluminum trays on her head, she walked briskly. Each tray precariously yet skillfully held a set meal of white steamed rice, soup, and five side dishes including rolled omelet, all still steaming. Avoiding the busy crowds, Ms. Oh arrived at a small lottery booth by the roadside. During lunchtime, merchants rely on the 8,000-won set meal she delivers to get through the day.

Heeja Oh (76), who has been delivering trays at Namdaemun Market for 44 years, was carrying an aluminum tray on her head as she set out for delivery on the 16th in Galchigol Alley, Namdaemun Market, Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hosoo Park

Her next stop was the rooftop gold and silver factory on the fourth floor of an old building. The hallway was narrow and the stairs steep, making it a challenge to climb even without a load, but Ms. Oh continued her steps without complaint. She starts work at 9 a.m. and finishes at 3 p.m., walking more than 50,000 steps a day. When the reporter following her for over two hours was drenched in sweat, Ms. Oh laughed, saying, "If you keep following me, you’ll collapse."

Despite spending all day going up and down the market floors and stairs, Ms. Oh receives a daily wage of 90,000 won—about 15,000 won per hour. She explained, "Since I’m older, I only get paid for nine deliveries (90,000 won) from my regular customers, but the lady at the Chinese restaurant in Galchigol Alley starts at 6 a.m. and works until 2 p.m., earning 150,000 won for fifteen deliveries."

On the afternoon of the 16th, as the Galchigolmok Alley in Namdaemun Market, Jung-gu, Seoul appeared quiet during lunchtime, a merchant was calling customers in front of his store. Photo by Hosoo Park

A 62-year-old female Chinese delivery worker interviewed that day said, "Compared to the nursing hospital I worked at two years ago, I like it here better because I can move freely through the alleys." However, there is always the risk of injury. She shared, "When I first started delivering, I lost my balance, fell, and spilled hot soup all over myself. I was hospitalized for over a month."

In the past, lunchtime at Namdaemun Market was lively with the aroma of food and the clatter of dishes delivered by these workers. This was a legacy from the 1980s and 1990s, when peddlers from all over the country would flock to the market, and during the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the daily customer count even exceeded 600,000—earning it the title of "the largest market in the East." Recently, tray delivery workers like Ms. Oh have gained attention as the "original K-delivery" in short-form videos by foreign tourists, but within the market itself, they are quietly facing extinction. As the market district declines, delivery orders have sharply decreased. Where once there were dozens of tray delivery restaurants, now only a handful remain.

A merchant at a clothing store in Namdaemun Market, Jung-gu, Seoul, is having lunch with a packed meal brought from home. Photo by Hosoo Park

The reasons are complex. As the prolonged recession has stopped customers from visiting, monthly store sales, which once amounted to several million won, have been cut in half. Merchants, now struggling to pay rent, have started by cutting back on meal expenses. Ordering even an 8,000-won set meal has become a luxury, so almost everyone brings their own packed side dishes from home.

Indeed, even in broad daylight, some corridors in the wholesale import stores the reporter visited were deserted. Kim Soonmyung (69), who has sold clothes here for 37 years, sighed, "In the 1980s, the market was so crowded you’d be pushed along by the crowd. It’s better than during COVID-19, but business is still bad." Park, a women’s clothing merchant (73), lamented, "Thirty years ago, I paid as much as the price of an apartment in Seoul just for the premium to move in, but now there are plenty of merchants who just want to get back their deposit and leave." According to the Namdaemun Merchants’ Association, the average vacancy rate of market stores was about 19% at the beginning of this year. In some unpopular categories, such as women’s clothing, it reaches up to 50%. The rise of ultra-low-priced Chinese e-commerce, the spread of online shopping, and the aging of the shopping district are all squeezing the market’s lifeline.

On the 16th, inside the kitchen of a Baekban restaurant in Namdaemun Market, Jung-gu, Seoul. The owner, who is closing the business next month, said, "I am leaving at the right timing." Photo by Hosoo Park

As orders have dried up, the number of tray delivery restaurants—which once numbered in the dozens—has declined. With fewer customers, the restaurants that served as bases for delivery workers are closing one by one. Park (75), who runs a set meal restaurant inside a market building, has decided to close next month. "Even if I sell 70 meals a day, there’s nothing left after deducting the cost of ingredients and labor," she said. "I’m planning to put up my house and store for sale and move to the countryside."

Experts point out that the impact of high oil prices and exchange rates has spilled over into restaurant and service prices, pushing self-employed business owners in traditional markets to their limits. Lee Youngae, professor of consumer studies at Incheon National University, advised, "It is urgent to innovate the distribution structure to help reduce costs and to devise realistic survival strategies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.