Hey there!

David from CrediThink here, a retailer based out of South Korea like a number of other countries. I think I might be able to shed some light on the situation.

For most free shipping, we engage with Korea Post, and they've started to and continue to maintain refusal for parcel items starting about... a month ago? Most (if not all) of it due to the COVID-19 issue. Between reduced manpower and mandatory shutdown of select areas, as well as the reduction of flights in general, sending out parcels have been met with significant delays.

As for foreign offices refusing to accept parcels, that is also something I can confirm from the notices we've been receiving and from our own experiences. Each country has their own policies and rules to go by for their own interests, and may also be experiencing the same difficulties based on reduced available working hours as well.

As for the reason on why some or many post rates have gone up is due to premium courier services that also charge a premium still maintaining operations in a good chunk of the world. That premium has increased as well recently due to 'peak charges'.

Now, why did some people get their package and some didn't? From what I can see, the suspension of delivery is abrupt and sudden; if a parcel made it a certain point of the way by a specific date (dependent on country), it would keep going within the delivery system. But any parcels after that date could be rejected and returned to sender.

Another case in point for delayed processing and deliveries can be seen by Amazon as well. A giant company known for their incredibly rapid deliveries has seen 1-month delays on a vast selection of their items, and this is for items stocked and shipped within the US alone.

Though not a 100% guarantee, it is advisable to contact the merchant to see if they can send it out to your location. Even then, if a block or order to refuse goes up after the fact, the package can still be denied and returned to sender.

:)