Delivery with some Seoul
Jan 11, 2010
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When I lived in Korea during the mid-90s, one of the simple pleasures in life was having everything delivered. Whether it was the yogurt lady, adorned in yellow vinyl in case the tropical monsoon storms suddenly unleashed their fury; the dry cleaning cantor (when he came to our building, I thought he was loudly chanting "Satan," but he was just booming the Korean word for laundry); the devilishly delicious plates of greasy jja-jjang-myun, a noodle dish swimming in black bean sauce; or a refrigerator that my dear friend arranged to have dragged across town to her apartment . . . delivery, usually by a scooter, was mostly a happy way of gathering goods and services. What amazed me is that anything got delivered at all: Korea has the most illogical address system, a matruska-like mess where you go from large (as in country, then province), to small (the block number or building name on the street). I always loved going into the local restaurants and looking at the local precinct maps. Block number 2 on my street may have been next to number 3, or 31, with number 77 following. I got dizzy trying to figure out the madness. When Korea co-hosted the World Cup in 2002, logistics slightly improved as streets were given name, but that U2 song still reminds me of Korea.
Delivery also had its unattractive side. Obviously there was the occasional near-decapitation by a motorbike rear-view mirror--a friend of mine was saved only because a motorcycle handlebar did not impale her, but only smacked the wood souvenir she had bought in a weekend trip to the countryside. Sometimes the sidewalks were indistinguishable from the streets. The noise certainly is discombobulating. But the worst effect of all these scooters were the emissions. Despite Seoul's--and Korea's--impressive public transport system, air pollution in Korea's cities is brutal.
This will change. Seoul's city government is spending billions of won(about US$14 million) on electric vehicles, from shuttle buses to electric motorcycles. By 2020, 7000 vehicle recharges should be found in public areas and parking lots, if the city's plan succeeds. The city is also taking a global leadership role, as it is working with Sao Paulo, Toronto and Sydney in creating a "C40 Electric Vehicle Network" that will expand the reach of electric vehicle recharging stations, give consumers and businesses incentives to purchase electric vehicles, and increase their presence in municipal fleets.
Korea's investment and leadership in electric vehicle technology will result in seeing even more Korean products in your homes and cars this decade. Kia plans on releasing a new electric car by 2012, and at Detroit's Motor Show next week, Hyundai will introduce its Blue-Will model, which incorporates a parallel hybrid system that allows the car to function as a Prius-like gas hybrid, or a pure plug-in electric car. If Hyundai can scale this model, I see this technology catching on: it gives customers the choice they like to see while helping to reduce dependence on those pesky imported fossil fuels.
I mentioned last week that this may be the Brazilian decade. The Koreans aren't far behind, and may even be a leader in the clean tech race.
Special thanks to Janet Glendenning for the great photo, ca. 1996, of her fridge being delivered on the back of a motorbike! 
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