Korean lawmakers trace illegal foreign delivery work to shared platform accounts

According to Rep. Kim Ki-pyo, platforms give subcontractors delivery volume and promotional funds, then pay them incentives on measures such as the number of riders recruited ^[4]. A partner paid per recruit has a reason to sign riders up and much less reason to check who ends up on the motorcycle. Some subcontractors told foreigners barred from the work that they could ride through an arrangement or collect wages under another person's name ^[5].

Kwon Oh-joong, who runs Baemin's delivery arm Woowa Youths, said it issues accounts only to foreign nationals legally authorized to work, and that it operates through outsourced partners with no direct contracts with individual riders ^[6]. Both statements can be true alongside the field testimony Sedaily reported. The registrant's identity is checked, but once the holder passes on a verification code another person can ride on the account, and nobody effectively screens who is making the deliveries ^[19]. Kwon conceded the company had not responded actively to account misuse running through subcontractors ^[7]. "We will not evade responsibility," he said ^[8].

The 17-fold figure needs care. Eight months produced 1,132 detections, about 141 a month, against 67 for last year ^{[1][2][16][21]}. Detections count enforcement effort as well as riders, so a multiple of nearly 17 ^[23] can reflect how hard authorities looked as much as how many foreigners were riding. On Kim's own floor of 10,000, this year's catch is about 11% of the illegal workforce ^[25].

The student post Kim presented claimed 3.3 million won a month for nine-hour weekdays and 12-hour weekends ^[3]. Worked every day, the schedule comes to 69 hours a week, about 300 hours a month, or roughly 11,000 won an hour ^[22]. Student visas bar delivery riding even for holders with permission to work part-time ^[17]. One Vietnamese-language delivery community has about 15,000 members, Kim said, though the count does not show how many of them work illegally ^[18].

The state's capacity is thin. A Daejeon rider with 13 years in the job told the audit he had repeatedly reported suspected account sharing to immigration authorities. "There are only 10 immigration officials responsible for Daejeon and the Chungcheong provinces. That's why we report these cases to the police," he said ^[11]. Acting Justice Minister Lee Jin-soo cited a staff shortage and said the ministry needs cooperation from other agencies and from delivery platforms ^[12]. "Crackdowns by immigration officials alone are nowhere near sufficient," Lee said ^[14].

Three outcomes fit this record. The audit could end as testimony. The ministry, short of officers, could lean on platforms to screen active riders, the direction Lee's appeal points ^[12]. Or Kim's push could become formal sanctions, and as he framed them those fall on subcontractors ^[20]. The reports from the audit do not describe a bill or a draft rule.

I think the second path is the likeliest near-term cost, and it lands unevenly. Woowa holds the termination lever over partners that platforms pay, by Kim's account, for recruiting ^[4][20], so the platform pays for policing while the losses fall on subcontractors. The counter-case is that Kim has already named a major Baemin partner as a recruiting channel for foreign workers ^[13]. His complaint is with the outsourcing structure Kwon described. If lawmakers move the identity duty from the partner to the platform account, that view is wrong, and screening who actually rides becomes Baemin's own expense.