Every day in South Korea, drivers on mopeds zip past pedestrians and weave between cars in a race to deliver fried chicken, spicy rice cakes and an assortment of other foods to customers in cities big and small. And like in other countries, the app-based industry grew rapidly in the ROK during the pandemic, with the number of drivers doubling since 2019.

But with the flourishing of the industry has come concerns about labor protections for the hundreds of thousands of delivery drivers now working in the industry. South Korean law classifies them as “non-standard workers” or “special employment status workers,” leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and preventing them from receiving benefits like minimum wage and severance pay.