Korea Post chief Son Seung-hyun, attended the Kahala Post Group chief executive officers meeting held in Madrid on Thursday, the nation’s postal service provider said.

The Kahala Post Group is an international alliance of postal administrations created in 2002 to promote international mail delivery and to carry out strategic projects. It currently has 11 member states.

The effects of COVID-19 on international mail, and methods to improve its quality were discussed at the meeting, said Korea Post.

The total amount of international express mail (EMS) sent among the 11 member states decreased from 31.56 million parcels in 2019 -- a year before COVID-19 hit the world -- to 23.34 million in 2021, according to data provided by the postal alliance.

South Korea’s EMS shipments also decreased by 25.8 percent over the corresponding period, Korea’s postal service said.

The Kahala member states agreed on the need to resume mail services between countries where postal services were halted during the pandemic, and to incorporate electronic tax support services to adapt to changing markets.

The CEOs also discussed the sustainable management of postal services.

“I talked about Korea Post’s efforts in improving the quality of international postal services, and stressed the importance of continued cooperation to increase the reception rate of preclearance information for mail amid the international trend of strengthening tax policies,” said Son.

By Lee Seung-ku (seungku99@heraldcorp.com)