Joint Government Crackdown by Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Land: Immediate Forced Deportation for Foreign Students Caught in Illegal Deliveries
1,132 Individuals Caught in 8 Months This Year, Marking a 16.9-Fold Surge Compared to Last Year… Rampant SNS Account Rentals
Falling Delivery Rates and Unchecked Unlicensed Driving Risks… Direct Blow to Livelihood-Seeking 2030 Youth Riders
Giant Delivery Platforms Hiding Behind Subcontractors… Strict Law Enforcement and Strengthened Outsourcing Management Responsibility Required
The government has decided to drop a 'one-strike-out' hammer, immediately expelling foreign students who illegally entered the domestic delivery market through delivery agency name-lending and illegal employment brokerage networks, regardless of the number of offenses. This comes as alarm bells reach a peak over the platform delivery labor market—where young people in their 20s and 30s sweat and toil—being reduced to a lawless zone of illegal account rentals and unlicensed driving, destroying fair market order.
According to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 31st, the government held a working-level subcommittee meeting of the Foreigners' Policy Committee and finalized strong joint government countermeasures against illegal foreign delivery riders. Under the current Immigration Control Act, holders of study abroad (D-2 and D-4) visas are strictly prohibited from working in the delivery industry even if they obtain part-time employment permits. However, the number of people caught from January to August this year surged to 1,132, a whopping 16.9 times the total for the entire previous year (67 people). The recent parliamentary audit revealed that illegal practices have become routine, with methods for delivering using borrowed Korean accounts and tips on evading crackdowns being systematically circulated on Vietnamese-language social media.
This surge in illegal foreign employment is directly threatening the survival rights of 2030 domestic youth riders who faithfully navigate the roads. Not only do workers influxed through illegal name-lending threaten road safety by engaging in unlicensed and reckless driving, but they also trigger delivery rate dumping, eroding the rightful value of youth labor. Giant delivery platforms that actually dominate the market have been evading responsibility by blaming poor management of partner companies (delivery agencies) and can hardly avoid criticism for resorting to tardy responses, such as only recently introducing regular identity verification.
Fair competition and the rule of law are indispensable prerequisites for sustaining the market ecosystem in a liberal market economy. Overlooking the reckless influx of foreigners without employment qualifications and the outsourcing tricks of platforms that neglect this is the height of unfairness, trampling on the value of the sweat shed by young people. The government's resolute one-strike-out measure must not end as a mere one-time crackdown, but lead to the establishment of fundamental systems, such as legislating rider facial recognition and holding platform headquarters accountable for management and supervision.