November 22, 2024

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Korea Post President Cho Hae-keun (third from right) and CEOs of international postal service groups pose for a photo at the Kahala Posts Group CEO meeting in Bangkok on Wednesday. (Korea Post)

Korea Post announced Wednesday that it took part in the Kahala Posts Group CEO meeting held in Bangkok, Thailand, to tighten cooperation aimed at revitalizing international postal services.

The Kahala Posts Group is an international alliance of leading postal services from the Asia-Pacific region. Established in 2002 by postal operators from six Asia-Pacific countries including South Korea, the unit has since expanded its membership to include European countries, now comprising a total of 10 member nations.

According to the Korea Post, President Cho Hae-keun, along with other post group CEOs, discussed strategies to improve the quality and volume of international postal services while sharing insights on the current market conditions.

The volume of international express mail service exchanged among member nations of the Kahala Posts Group has decreased since the outbreak of COVID-19 from 26.15 million items in 2020 to 17.20 million items last year.

The Korea Post analyzed that the global shift of international mail to commercial channels after the pandemic has not yet recovered, leading to continued declines in volume.

During the Bangkok meeting, the CEOs agreed to resume the EMS delivery guarantee service among Kahala member countries by the end of this year. This service, which guarantees delivery and offers a refund in case of delays, has been suspended since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Measures to address the difficulties in the international postal business, such as reducing delivery times and introducing new services that use commercial channels for customs clearance, were also considered.

"Continuous collaboration with international postal services is essential to develop new services in response to the decline in international mail volume. We will continue cooperating with the Kahala Posts Group to strengthen domestic postal services," said Cho.

By Kim Jun-hong (hongie@heraldcorp.com)