Messenger from the Future

The bicycle messenger service GIG Courier firmly believes that even if a life spent pedaling with two legs can’t save the world, it can make cities healthier places.

Words Parc Jinmyoung
Interviewee Kim Uiho (Founder of GIG Courier)

When I first learned about GIG Courier, a bicycle courier service, I thought of actor Park Haeil, who played the male lead in the film “The Mermaid.” In the movie, he appears as a mailman riding his bike through town delivering small pieces of everyday news to neighbors—a faded scene from a film now some 20 years old, which makes it feel like ancient history. But bicycle delivery is still very much alive today, not only in Europe and Japan but even closer to home. Based in Euljiro, Seoul, GIG Courier delivers packages by bicycle with zero carbon emissions—accomplishing a future-oriented mission through decidedly analog means. The word “gig” has various dictionary meanings, from a horse-drawn carriage to a one-off job, but the “gig” in GIG Courier refers to a single live performance. The name comes from the idea that a bicycle messenger weaving through the streets—tires skimming the pavement, chain spinning—resembles a musician on stage. We met Kim Uiho, founder of GIG Courier, who is narrowing the gap in how people perceive bicycles, riding across every corner of Seoul on nothing but two legs and two wheels.

Note: A courier refers to a person who delivers packages or messages.

You just marked your first anniversary (on January 17). How do you feel looking back on the past year?
It’s been a time to really get GIG Courier’s name out there. Riding around with a big bag on my back, more and more people started recognizing me, and I get a lot of encouragement from people happy that bicycle messengers now exist in Korea too. Orders have been steadily building up, so I feel like we’re gradually finding our footing, but I’m still hungry for more. (Laughs) When I was working as a messenger in Tokyo, I used to ride 80 kilometers a day, but these days I only manage about 40 kilometers on average.

The job of bicycle messenger is still pretty unfamiliar here.
Bicycle messengers emerged alongside the invention of the bicycle itself. In the late 19th century, American telegraph companies began hiring bicycle messengers to deliver telegrams, and it grew into an industry from there. As traffic congestion worsened, demand for bicycle messengers increased. And recently, with growing attention to carbon neutrality, the profession is gaining renewed interest.

What do you think sets GIG Courier apart from the competition?
It offers something beyond just speed and efficiency. Our customers are mostly people who want to help reduce carbon footprints and who resonate with bicycle messenger culture. Actually, when you factor in traffic congestion, our delivery times are similar to those of motorcycle couriers. And with typical motorcycle quick-delivery services, orders in the same area are often bundled together and dispatched at once, making it hard to guarantee an arrival time. GIG Courier, on the other hand, promises delivery within an hour for round trips under 15 kilometers. Our prices are a bit higher than standard courier services, but considering the speed, it’s not overly expensive.

What made you become a bicycle messenger in the first place?
I’ve loved bicycles since I was a kid, and I first learned about bicycle messengers while studying abroad in Japan. Watching messengers ride all over Tokyo, I decided that someday I’d try it myself. Once I felt confident enough with my Japanese, I applied to T Serv, the biggest bicycle messenger company in Tokyo. It happened to be right before graduation, so I had some free time. What I loved most was that I could earn money just by riding a bike, and as I got to know every corner of the city, discovering it in a whole new way brought me a lot of joy. But more than anything, I really loved the messenger community. I became fascinated by messenger culture and the way messengers lived their lives, so after graduating I worked full-time as a messenger for two and a half years. I came back to Korea in 2020 and started GIG Courier, a bicycle messenger service, in Seoul.

Seoul and Tokyo are similar in some ways but really different in others. What kind of potential did you see in Seoul?
Around 2009, Korea actually had bicycle messengers too. But Seoul was designed around cars from the start—it’s hilly, has rivers to cross, companies are scattered all over the place, and the weather swings between brutally hot and cold. It’s a tough city for messengers to work in. In Japan, bicycle messengers have been active continuously since the 1980s, partly because the country has such excellent cycling infrastructure. Even in winter, temperatures rarely drop below freezing. Also, company buildings and business districts are concentrated around the Tokyo Imperial Palace, so delivery distances tend to be shorter. And since many places still require documents to be signed in person, there’s a lot of paper delivery work. The two cities are completely different in almost every respect. Still, I was convinced there was real demand in Seoul. Plus, an eco-friendly delivery service felt like a perfect fit for the era of carbon neutrality. I figured that if we developed the service well, there would be potential down the road, even if not immediately—so I started.

How do you recruit GIG Courier members?
Anyone who loves riding a bike can do it. It’s fine even if they’re doing other delivery gigs on the side for now. One friend who was a graduate student used to study at the library and go make a delivery whenever an order came in. There’s no formal hiring process—we’re still at the stage of building the service together with people who simply love bicycles, hanging out and figuring it out as we go.

I heard there’s a Cycle Messenger World Championship. Have you ever taken part?
The friend I work with now, I actually met through the 2019 championship held in Jakarta, Indonesia. During the event, I heard there was another Korean there, but we didn’t actually meet at the time—we just followed each other on Instagram. When I came back to Korea, it turned out he was riding around here too. That’s how we finally met in Seoul, and he joined GIG Courier.

How is the championship structured?
It’s a competition held on a closed course that simulates real messenger work. Following checkpoints set by the organizers, whoever completes delivery of the manifest (the cargo list) fastest within the given time becomes the winner. But it’s less about determining a winner and more like a festival where messengers from all over the world gather to connect with one another.

Any fun stories from the event?
There’s also an underground race held alongside the championship—it’s called an “alley cat” race. The concept is simple: you just have to hit checkpoints scattered around the city. But messengers coming from other cities don’t know Jakarta’s streets well, which makes it far more thrilling. I rode 60 kilometers over two hours, holding Google Maps in one hand and the handlebar in the other. The exhaust fumes hanging white over the roads, the smells, the scenes flashing past—it all left a real impression on me. I still remember it vividly.

Which cities have developed messenger cultures?
Berlin, Germany, where the first World Cycle Messenger Championship was held in 1993, along with major European cities in general, of course, but there are also plenty of bicycle messengers in big American cities like New York and San Francisco. I even know a friend who works in the mountainous terrain of the Swiss Alps. Southeast Asia is just starting to see this culture emerge. This September, the World Cycle Messenger Championship will be held in Yokohama, Japan, so we’re closing up shop and heading there too.

Do you have a memorable cycling trip?
When I was coming back from Japan, I originally planned to ride my bike all the way from Tokyo to Seoul. Because of the pandemic, entry procedures had gotten complicated, so I couldn’t cross the sea, but I decided to at least ride as far as I could within Japan. I rode from Tokyo to Fukuoka, covering 1,400 kilometers over 17 days. It was during the height of the pandemic, so even famous tourist spots were empty. It felt like I had rented the whole country of Japan just for myself.

You say Geekcourier places coexistence above everything else as a core value. What's the relationship between bicycles and coexistence?
Personally, I believe that any society with a solid bicycle culture is bound to be a healthy one. When there are lots of bikes in a city, people naturally learn to be considerate of one another on the road. Legally, bicycles are allowed to ride in the rightmost lane. And in many cases, bike lanes run right along the sidewalk. If drivers and pedestrians are both aware of the traffic laws concerning bicycles, it creates a social atmosphere where people can understand and respect each other even when their paths cross. We used the word ‘coexistence’ hoping that every mode of transportation on the road could be respected.

What does a sustainable life mean to Geekcourier?
I think it means letting go of greed. We're doing fine, but the people around us worry a lot instead. They say things like, ‘Can you really make a living taking orders like that? You should apply for startup funding. You need to scale up quickly.’ I think all of that is valid, but at the same time, I believe that kind of greed is exactly what makes things unsustainable in the end. For now, we want to focus on our brand philosophy and do our best with what we can do right now. If we keep adding loyal clients who resonate with Geekcourier's values, one by one, like we're doing now, won't we eventually be able to make a good living on bicycles? (laughs)