Korea Post, under the Ministry of Science and ICT, is joining hands with Cafe24 to cut logistics costs and ease financial burdens for small merchants running their own shopping malls.

Korea Post said on Wednesday it signed a business agreement with Cafe24 to provide postal and financial benefits to small merchants operating or preparing their own direct-to-consumer shopping malls.

Under the agreement, contracted parcels can be sent from 2,900 won depending on weight and size, even with the acceptance of only 1 item. International mail will come with additional discounts of 2 percent for EMS and 1 percent for K-packet. For customers using Korea Post savings, it will waive key transaction fees such as deposits, withdrawals and automatic transfers. It will also apply a preferential interest rate of up to 0.15 percent a year.

Korea Post will introduce the benefits at the "K-Manufacturing E-commerce Innovation Conference" to be held on Oct. 21 at OSCO in Cheongju. The benefits will apply only when customers who pre-register their interest in Korea Post services on the conference’s online application page actually sign a contract with Korea Post.

Korea Post chief Park In-hwan (박인환) said, "We expect it to serve as an opportunity for Korea Post and direct-to-consumer shopping malls to grow together by supporting logistics cost savings and financial benefits."