At the Baemin Rider School in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, on the afternoon of the 23rd, a motorcycle's rear wheel slid helplessly and the vehicle toppled over the moment the rider gripped the brakes hard on a rain-soaked road surface recreated in virtual reality (VR). On a real road, the situation could easily have led to a serious accident. Watching this, the safety training instructor said, "This is one of the safe-riding mistakes delivery riders commonly make," adding, "On rainy roads, you must apply the brakes slowly."
On this day, Woowahan Youths, which handles the logistics service of Baedal Minjok (Baemin), ran an offline safety education program called "Chosum" together with the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL). VR training is one of the flagship courses at the Baemin Rider School.
Leaving the VR experience area, the tour moved to a training ground that looked like an actual road transplanted onto the site. It featured slopes, intersections and speed bumps, and even recreated rainy roads by wetting the surface with sprinklers. Delivery riders repeated sudden braking, cornering and obstacle avoidance, receiving training to prepare for real accident situations.
Cho Won-je, 53, a delivery rider with 30 years of experience who took part in the training, said, "There is a world of difference between having personally experienced an accident and never having experienced one," adding, "Safety training gives people the ability to respond to accidents."
The Baemin Rider School is the only motorcycle-specialized training facility of its kind in Korea, operated by Woowahan Youths since 2018. Last year, the company invested about 27 billion won to newly build a training ground of about 8,000 square meters in total floor area in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province. Here, riders can receive three-stage training free of charge, consisting of theory education, VR experience and hands-on practical training. As of last year, the cumulative number of graduates reached about 23,000.
Woowahan Youths provides free safety training for riders because of a management philosophy that views them not as mere delivery labor but as business partners. The judgment that reducing rider accidents is directly linked to long-term service stability also played a part. When a rider has an accident, the delivery is halted, which can lead to customer complaints and a decline in service trust.
The effects of the Baemin Rider School training are also becoming apparent. According to Woowahan Youths, the accident rate for Baemin riders enrolled in Baemin Connect fell sharply from 2.38% in 2023 to 0.96% in 2025.
With the government set to make safety training mandatory for new delivery riders starting this December, Woowahan Youths plans to strengthen its safety education in step with the government. Kwon Oh-jung, CEO of Woowahan Youths, said, "Baedal Minjok views safety not as a cost but as an investment," adding, "We will do our best without losing the founding spirit of building a safe delivery culture going forward."
