A High-Tech City Shows Its Human Side

Seoul moves at a dizzying speed. And it stops for no one. Pause in the middle of the sidewalk on a busy street in this South Korean city of some 10 million, and fellow pedestrians will brush past you without so much as a glance from their phones. The streets and crosswalks are a mobility hodgepodge of bikes, cars, buses, and people. One prominent part of the city’s complex traffic ecosystem: food delivery guys whizzing by on their motorbikes. Thanks to South Korea’s on-demand culture, driven largely by the abundance of mobile apps, the meals must be fast and hot.

Or, when it comes to Seoul staples like Yakult yogurts—a probiotic drink from Japan—icy cold. Food delivery culture is deeply ingrained in Seoul, and it far predates the smartphone era. In the 1970s, when refrigeration was still largely reserved for the wealthy, middle-aged women—or ajummas—were hired to deliver the drinks in residential neighborhoods. They’d go door-to-door, selling the tiny bottles of Yakult out of heavy insulated carts for just a few cents each.