it was reported that south korea's largest food delivery platform, "baedal minjok" (badal minjok), officially integrated alipay and wechat pay on september 25th, becoming the first food delivery app in south korea to support major chinese payment methods. this move aligns with the south korean government's visa-free policy for group tourists from mainland china, which took effect on september 29th, and aims to prepare for the major holiday season of the 2025 national day and the mid-autumn festival.
currently, the platform offers both delivery and in-store pickup services, but its interface is only available in korean. the company stated that multi-language support will be developed gradually. after downloading and registering, users can now choose between alipay+ and wechat pay to utilize global payment methods. to attract chinese users, wechat pay users can receive a limited-time 20% discount coupon through the wechat app until october 25th.
this innovative payment method has greatly improved the shopping experience for foreign tourists. previously, ordering food delivery in south korea required a valid korean mobile phone number, a korean-issued credit card, or paying high booking service fees. however, now, payments can be completed simply by scanning a qr code. with the increasing exchanges between china and south korea, this upgrade in payment methods is expected to greatly enhance the convenience of chinese tourists visiting south korea and provide the platform with new opportunities to attract users.
