Seoul simplifies food delivery apps for international visitors

For the millions of international tourists visiting Korea, few local experiences carry as much cultural charm as ordering crispy fried chicken or steaming "tteokbokki" (chewy rice cakes simmered in a sweet and spicy sauce) directly to a picnic blanket on the banks of the Han River.

For years, however, that local ritual remained frustratingly difficult for non-residents to experience, blocked by rigid digital requirements for domestic phone number verification and Korean-issued credit cards.

Now, municipal authorities and private tech firms are actively tearing down those long-standing administrative barriers.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Wednesday that it had created a partnership with Woowa Brothers — operator of Korea’s dominant food delivery platform, Baedal Minjok (Baemin) — to render the nation’s famed food delivery ecosystem entirely accessible to international visitors.

Under the new agreement, the delivery giant has overhauled its application infrastructure to eliminate the requirement for a Korean mobile phone subscription during checkout.

International tr ...