It’s That Time of the Year: Booking Movers in Korea

By Dhivyaa S. P. ||

After spending two and a half years living in the Chonnam National University dormitory, my roommate and I finally decided it was time to move into a house. Over those years, we had accumulated far more belongings than we had expected; especially in my case, as someone who tends to buy “unnecessary” items each season purely for aesthetic reasons.

Even though our new house was located less than three kilometers from the university, the amount of stuff we owned made moving a bigger task than anticipated. This led me to search for affordable and reliable moving services using the Naver app.

The movers wrapped the bed, brought their own trolleys, and handled everything carefully.

While browsing, I came across the Soomgo (숨고) website, a popular Korean platform for hiring various services, including movers. The site requires logging in using a Kakao ID. After signing in, I filled out a simple inquiry form to request a moving quote.

Initially, the move was only for a single item: a queen-size bed. I had gotten this bed for free from the Carrot app (a small win worth mentioning!). The bed needed to be moved from an apartment near U-Square to our soon-to-be house.

Once I submitted the request, I received multiple quotes from different moving companies. I contacted each one to confirm whether they could disassemble, transport, and reassemble the bed, as well as to check availability for my preferred date and time. Some companies responded quickly, while others were slow or unresponsive. After about 30 minutes of comparing options, I booked a mover for 60,000 won.

“Overall, the entire moving process was smooth, efficient, and stress-free.”

On the day of the move, the movers arrived exactly on time with a large truck and all necessary equipment. They brought their own boxes, trolleys, and protective covers for the bed. Their professionalism was impressive. One passenger was also allowed to travel in the truck to the destination, which was very convenient.

Due to time constraints, I couldn’t get the bed assembled on the same day. Without hesitation, the movers offered to return on another day to assemble it at no extra cost. This level of service left a strong impression.

Because of this positive experience, we decided to book the same movers again for our main move from the dormitory to the house. By then, we had more than 15 boxes, five trolleys, and several loose items. All we needed to do was pack everything and place it outside our dorm room.

The movers handled the rest. They transported everything from the eighth floor of the dormitory to the second floor of our house. Since the house didn’t have an elevator, the movers had to climb the stairs repeatedly with heavy boxes. We were extremely grateful for their hard work. Including a tip, the total cost came to around 80,000 won.

Overall, the entire moving process was smooth, efficient, and stress-free. The only challenge was the language barrier. The Soomgo website (https:// soomgo.com/) is completely in Korean, and most movers communicate only in Korean as well. Using a translation app is highly recommended for non-Korean speakers.

Later on, one of my friends also used KakaoTalk to book a moving truck, which is another commonly used option in South Korea.

If you’re a student or foreign resident planning a move in Korea, local platforms like these can be affordable and surprisingly reliable – as long as you’re prepared to navigate through the process with a bit of Korean.

Cover Photo: Moving boxes from CU convenience store. (Dhivyaa S. P.)