Positive Response to Gangdong-gu's 'Women Safety Parcel Locker' Operation

Operating 14 Contactless Unmanned Parcel Lockers to Create Women’s Safety Villages... Available 24/7, Free 48-Hour Use for All Gangdong Residents

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gangdong-gu (District Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon) operates women’s safety parcel lockers to prevent crimes against women and to enhance convenience for local residents such as single-person households and dual-income couples.

To create women’s safety villages, the district has installed and operates 14 unmanned parcel lockers in areas densely populated by female households and in one-room and multi-family housing areas. The annual usage increased from 3,970 times in 2013 to 32,387 times in 2020, about eight times more over seven years, receiving high approval from residents.

Jung**, a 25-year-old resident of Seongnae 3-dong, said, “During a 2-night 3-day family trip, I designated the women’s safety parcel locker as the delivery address for parcels arriving while I was away, which eased my worries about leaving the house empty.” She praised the service as “a useful service that also allows us to follow important non-face-to-face guidelines in the COVID-19 era.”

Also, in a survey conducted by Seoul City in August 2020 targeting 1,078 women, 78.6% of respondents evaluated the women’s safety parcel lockers positively, and 91.4% said continuous service is necessary, showing high satisfaction and demand for the project.

Residents who want to use the safety parcel lockers can designate the parcel locker as the delivery address when purchasing goods and placing an order. The delivery person stores the item in the designated locker and enters the recipient’s contact information, after which an authentication code is sent. The resident then enters the received authentication code into the parcel locker to retrieve the item.

The service is available to all residents, not just women, and operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Storage is free for 48 hours, but if it exceeds 48 hours, a fee of 1,000 KRW per day is charged.

Lee Jeong-hoon, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, said, “The women’s safety parcel lockers are a community-based service with high resident satisfaction and crime prevention effects such as preventing impersonation of delivery workers.” He added, “We will continue efforts to enhance women’s safety and improve residents’ convenience.”