In South Korea, speed is key. What needs to be done quickly? Virtually everything. As encapsulated in the running joke that “ppalli ppalli” -- where "ppalli" translates to "quickly" or "hurry up" in Korean -- is one of the first Korean phrases that visitors pick up here, Koreans tend to display minimal tolerance for delays.
“Being quick is considered to be efficient, at least in my workplace,” Song Min-jae shared, a Seoul resident in his early 30s. “But this quickness isn’t just limited to my work life. It permeates every aspect of my life.
” Quick-tempo living Notable manifestations of Korea's tendency to do things hastily include the common habit of pressing the button to close the doors in elevators as soon as one enters, or repeatedly refreshing slowly loading web pages. It is also typical to see people rushing up escalators or walking briskly on moving walkways, to the point where stopping could disrupt the flow of commuters. On buses, passengers often stand to prepare to disembark even before the bus comes to a stop.
Park, a Seoul-based graduate student in her 20s, embodies the belief that time is money. Even during her downtime spent on YouTube, she has developed a habit of playing videos at twice the speed, finding most videos “too slow.” In nearly all service sectors, speed is paramount, as even minor delays can tarnish customer experience.
In the e-commerce landscape, speedy delivery services are constantly vying to outdo each other with even faster.