Siheung City Crackdown on Illegal Freight Transport to Ensure Fair Logistics Environment

Siheung City has launched a joint crackdown with the Ansan Immigration Office to eliminate illegal business operations by private freight vehicles. The operation, which began on April 9, 2026, specifically targeted logistics centers in Jeongwang-dong to establish a legal freight transport order and create a fair transportation environment.

The initiative targets the use of private vehicles for commercial freight purposes, a practice that bypasses legal licensing and regulatory requirements. By partnering with immigration authorities, the city is addressing both the unauthorized use of vehicles and the potential employment of illegal foreign workers within the logistics sector.

Broader Regulatory Context in South Korea

This local enforcement in Siheung aligns with a wider national trend of intensifying crackdowns on unauthorized labor and illegal operations within the South Korean logistics and delivery industries. The South Korean Justice Ministry previously announced an intensive enforcement period throughout March and April to remove illegal foreign riders from the food delivery sector.

Government data indicated that the number of foreign nationals caught working illegally in the logistics sector tripled between 2023 and 2025. Many of these workers are international students or visitors using falsified or borrowed identities to access delivery platforms.

The Justice Ministry’s efforts have specifically targeted private delivery agencies that recruit unauthorized foreign workers to charge higher commissions while failing to provide necessary insurance coverage.

Operational Impacts on Logistics Platforms

The crackdown on illegal labor and unauthorized transport operations creates significant operational challenges for major delivery and logistics platforms such as Baemin and Coupang Eats. Because these platforms often outsource rider recruitment to private agencies, there is a visibility gap regarding the legal status of the workforce.

The removal of a large portion of the workforce due to fines or deportation is expected to result in increased delivery times, particularly in high-density urban areas. From a data intelligence perspective, this shift highlights the fragility of the gig-economy labor supply.

When the pool of legal couriers shrinks, delivery fees typically rise to attract the remaining authorized workers. The government has warned that Korean nationals who lend their accounts to unauthorized riders may face criminal charges.

These regulatory pressures are forcing platforms to implement stricter and more expensive identity verification protocols to ensure compliance with labor laws.

Labor Relations and Legal Disputes

Parallel to the crackdown on illegal individual operators, the South Korean government has faced conflict with organized labor in the freight sector. The Yoon administration previously issued orders to resume work to forcibly end strikes by the Cargo Union.

The administration mobilized the Fair Trade Commission to classify the Cargo Union as a business association and filed charges against the union for violating the Fair Trade Act. These actions followed the union’s protests against the abolition of the Safe Freight Rate System, which workers argued would lead to speeding, overloading, and overwork.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport established an Illegal Acts Reporting Center related to the Cargo Union’s collective refusal of transport in November 2022. However, data submitted to the National Assembly by Junho Jung revealed that only eight reports were filed in the first week of operation, with zero reports filed in the first half of 2025.