THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONALSUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2020 N 13

SEOUL, South Korea — An
hour before dawn, Kang Hye-
jeong was already out cruising
on her battery-run mobile refrig-
erator, briskly moving through
alleys in Cheongdam-dong, a
district of southern Seoul.
She parked her refrigerator
and darted among apartments
and office buildings, door to door
and desk to desk, punching in
building entry codes with ease as
if she were another family mem-
ber or colleague.
But to her loyal customers, Ms.
Kang is simply known as a
“yakult ajumma.”
Dressed in beige uniforms and
quick with smiles and greetings,
yakult ajummas have been fix-
tures in South Korea for decades.
They sell yakult — a sweet,
drinkable yogurt invented in
Japan in the 1930s — from refrig-
erated carts. In many Korean
communities, they have evolved
from door-to-door saleswomen to
surrogate mothers, daughters
and aunts.
Ajumma is a Korean word
often used affectionately to de-
scribe middle-aged women with
children.
“I deliver yogurt but also
cheerfulness and energy,” said
Ms. Kang, 47, a yakult ajumma
since 2012, who knows her
customers’ orders by heart.
“People, especially the elderly,
feel good to see a cheerful and
hardworking woman, and some
of them eventually start buying
from me.”
Ms. Kang was flagged down by
a neighbor who bought yogurt
but also gave her some of his rice
cake. An old janitor greeted her
warmly and gave her a cup of
coffee in the chilly morning.
“She is always on time, with
her smile and greeting,” said Lee
Hae-sook, a wine-shop owner. “I
buy yogurt from her and she
helps me start my morning feel-
ing good. It’s a win-win deal for
both of us.”
Yakult ajummas have a long
history in Korea.
In the early 1970s, the govern-
ment provided farm subsidies to
promote the country’s livestock
industry. The growing cow busi-
ness created a milk surplus
because Koreans at the time had
little appetite for dairy products.
So Korea Yakult, in a joint ven-
ture with Yakult Honsha of Ja-
pan, introduced a sweet probiotic
drink made from fermented milk,
advertising the health benefits of
“yusangyun,” or lactic acid bac-
teria, long before probiotic drinks
became a part of the health food
vernacular.
Yakult Honsha had already
been using a network of women
for home delivery in Japan, and
the company’s Korean counter-
part took to the idea. In 1971, a
few dozen women looking for
jobs to supplement their house-
hold income became the nation’s
first yakult ajummas.
The work was hard. Lacking
cold storage for fresh drinks, the
women had to pull carts filled
with ice to sell the yakult.
And buyers didn’t come read-
ily. At first, the women were
accused of selling “germs.”
The company launched an
aggressive “good-for-gut health”
ad campaign. Now there are
customers in hillside shanty-
towns and gleaming apartment
buildings, factories and Parlia-

ment.

There are roughly 11,

yakult ajummas in South Korea,

the nation’s largest female-only,

home-delivery sales network.

Half of them can be seen cruising

around Seoul, riding their sleek

mobile refrigerators called Co-

Cos, short for “cold and cool.”

Yakult ajummas have been

credited with helping to establish

South Korea’s taste for dairy, and

are so ubiquitous they have

become minor pop culture celeb-

rities. Their image has given rise

to a song, and K-pop stars have

even tried to do the job for a day.

Jeon Deuk-soon, 49, started

working in Bongcheon-dong, a

district in southwestern Seoul, as

a yakult ajumma 17 years ago.

The hilly neighborhood dotted

with car-repair shops and sewing

factories has been her beat ever

since.

Ms. Jeon first carried her

yakult in a push-and-pull trolley

packed with blocks of ice to keep

her drinks cool. When an alley

got too narrow or steep, or when

she faced steps, she switched to

an insulated cooler bag slung

over her shoulder.

“Imagine how I felt when I

faced a three-block stretch of

uphill climb,” Ms. Jeon said. “But

I have always been constant,

walking my streets whether it

sweltered, snowed or rained.”

In 2015, as the proliferation of

refrigerated trucks and conven-

ience stores brought stiff compe-

tition to the market, Korea Yakult

introduced the CoCo. The vehi-

cle, which looks like a cross

between a Segway and a golf

cart, has helped rejuvenate sales

by allowing the women to zoom

up to five miles an hour on busy

streets. Its 220-liter fridge car-

ries cheese, cold-brew, fresh eggs

and meat and even meal kits.

The yakult ajummas are part

of the wave of women who joined

the work force in large numbers

in the 1970s. Often these women

were driven by a fierce desire to

finance their children’s education

to elevate their family’s status.

They found work as street

vendors, restaurant workers or

whatever job was available out-

side their homes. In doing so,

they were sometimes ster-

eotyped as aggressive — willing,

for example, to shove their way

through crowds to find seats on

the bus or subway after an ex-

hausting day of work.

Ajummas were flouting tradi-

tional gender roles that expected

women to be shy and focusing

mainly on household work. And

so they came to be nicknamed “a

third sex.”

Today’s yakult ajummas are

mostly in their 40s. They tend to

work in the same neighborhood

for their entire career, staying in

the job for an average of 12.

years. The job remains popular

among women raising children

who are attracted to the flexible

hours and commission-based

pay.

“When I started my gig, I had

my grade-school daughter tag

along on my round on Saturdays

when she didn’t go to school,”

Ms. Kang said.

Ms. Jeon, in Bongcheon-dong,

said that she started the job after

her husband’s bottled-water

business failed, and that she has

never taken more than a week

off at a time. She said her income

made selling yakult helped her

raise two sons.

Over time, most yakult ajum-

mas become cherished for more

than their tiny grocery store on

wheels.

Neighborhood women running

late have called on them for help

with child care and school bus

pickups. They have been known

to run errands and watch pets.

And they are especially appreci-

ated by their older customers.

“Old clients stop me to share

all kinds of personal stories when

I visit them,” Ms. Kang said. “I

get impatient because I still have

my route to cover. But I remem-

ber my own mom and listen to

them, sometimes crying with

them. In this modern world, they

lack someone to talk to.”

Adult children living in distant

cities will sometimes arrange for

yakult ajummas to check on their

aging parents and report back

after making their delivery. In

community programs coordi-

nated with local governments,

yakult ajummas bring free milk

and yogurt and check on 30,

seniors who live alone, often in

semi-underground urban homes.

Such intimacy is part of what

has kept the profession thriving

in South Korea for half a century.

“I have raised six stepchildren

and I don’t even know where

they live now,” said Yang Hae-in,

91, who is one of Ms. Jeon’s

customers. Ms. Jeon comes to

see her every day, Ms. Yang said.

The two held hands during a

recent visit.

“She is like a daughter to me.”

SOUTH KOREA DISPATCH

Yogurt-Delivery Women Are More Than Food Couriers, They’re Family

Jeon Deuk-soon, top, maneuvered her CoCo, the battery-run mobile refrigerator, to deliver yogurt products, left, to her clients in

Bongcheon-dong, Seoul. “She is like a daughter to me,” said Yang Hae-in, left in right photo, one of Ms. Jeon’s customers.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY WOOHAE CHO FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

By CHOE SANG-HUN

About 11,000 ‘yakult

ajummas’ make up

the sales network.

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