In South Korea, like everywhere else, all business including the international moving business had a difficult two years because of Covid-19. Since that time, the whole business environment has changed rapidly again.

In Korea, many huge accounts such as Samsung, LG, Hyundai, SK, and others have begun to plan to invest overseas. Due to these changes and investments, the moving business is rising up again, along with factory and logistics projects. However, prices have increased here after Covid-19, including housing and rental fees, making the investment market less attractive here than it is overseas. Regardless of the destination, though, Pumyang is prepared and set up to serve our big accounts and provide moving service with high quality as usual.

After Covid-19, there has been a shortage of workers in Korea. Only a few old people work for packing and delivery crews; young people are not interested in working in the moving business. To bring in enough workers, wages have necessarily increased rapidly. Our prices have had to increase to cover the cost of manpower, which has become difficult to obtain and, especially, maintain.

The supply of manpower is our biggest problem currently, and it is difficult to maintain labor quality with an aging workforce. This is not true only for Pumyang or the overall moving business—every business has same problem in Korea. Pumyang has even extended our retirement age to try to attract workers. We have also implemented improved worker benefits and increased salaries in an effort to maintain young, high-quality moving crews.

During the time of Covid-19, the moving business took a big hit, but we treated it as a chance to develop our service quality. Pumyang worked to achieve the AEO (Authorized Economic Operator) certificate, and succeed in 2021. AEO is basically similar to the C-TPAT in the U.S. Many freight forwarders have AEO certificates for their logistics business, but it is not common in the international moving business; Pumyang has earned the AEO certificate to develop one more step in service and quality.

The environmental impact of moving and mobility in Korea is already surprisingly low. First of all, there would be very little difference in changing to electronic vehicles from the small diesel trucks now in use. There are very strict regulations here for old diesel trucks; all diesel vehicles must be maintained in accordance with EURO 6 regulations. And, there is a very good recycling system in Korea. We always collect PVC and paper for recycling, and are often able to recycle and reuse packing materials.

The regulations and import custom clearance rules for household goods have not changed for a long time. All household goods shipments must be trucked to customs, and there is 100% physical inspection. Currently, there are social issues surrounding drugs in Korea, and customs inspections have increased. The drug issue typically does not affect the whole population, but primarily some young people and celebrities. Because of this, we are required to provide detailed customs rules and give notice of prohibited items to our worldwide agents.

In the Korean moving culture, most clients live in apartments and usually use cargo elevators or outside lifts. Using an outside lift is more expensive than a cargo elevator and the charge is calculated by floor and volume. We are always careful to explain the difference to clients and agents moving in Korea.

We at Pumyang believe that each new client can be our client again and use our service anytime, anywhere. After we finish the packing and delivery service, our C/S team always checks the satisfaction of the client. Clients seldom complain or show negative feelings on moving day, and that is why we always check one more time after the move is complete. At that time, we often get the true impression from the client and we can develop our service from there as needed.

Pumyang is one of oldest international moving corporations in Korea. We are well-known among clients, and many loyal clients exist such as MOFA, KOTRA, and KOICA from the Korean government, and big accounts like Samsung, LG, Hyundai, SK, Posco, and others. They always trust Pumyang, and request us in their international moving plan. Pumyang has over 45 years of experience, and our slogan is, “We move your family, not just freight”. The best reward for us is to see big smiles on a family’s faces after we move them into their new home.