DirectSend

DirectSend (다이렉트센드) is a Korean bulk messaging service for email, text messages and Kakao messages, run by Samjung Data Service (삼정데이타서비스), whose company details and Seoul address sit at the foot of every page. Its email product describes itself as a service with which anyone can easily send email in bulk, built around templates, result reports and what the company calls an excellent delivery success rate. Newsletters, shopping mail and promotional mail are the everyday use; automated mail such as signup and order confirmations runs through its API. Surveys and an address book sit alongside the sending tools, and everything is paid for from one prepaid balance.

Channels

The service covers four areas, reflected in its main menu: bulk email, bulk text messages, Kakao messages and surveys, with a shared address book underneath. Text messages come in three formats: short SMS, long LMS and photo MMS. On Kakao the service sends AlimTalk notifications (알림톡), the template-based informational messages Korean businesses use for order and delivery updates, and brand messages, which the pricing section labels as the successor to the former FriendTalk (친구톡) product. Kakao sending has its own set-up steps in the menu: preparing a Kakao account, configuring a sender profile, and managing separate AlimTalk and brand message templates, each with its own scheduling and result reports.

Building and sending email

According to the FAQ on the bulk email page, the process runs in four steps: sign up as a business member and top up the balance, register a sending email address under the mail settings and have it verified, add recipients in the address book, then write and send the message. Individuals can also use the service, but the FAQ says advertising mail can only be sent by business members.

Messages are designed in a drag-and-drop mail builder. The company says it lets anyone design professional email "without HTML knowledge", and the home page adds that it builds both responsive and PC-style layouts with mouse clicks, without a designer. A library of mail templates and card templates, updated monthly across a range of categories, provides starting points, and a "MY 템플릿" (My Templates) section keeps a sender's own designs. The home page also lists a photo editor for simple image editing and a map insertion tool for pointing readers to a location, both offered at no charge.

Personalization works through what the site calls automatic substitution (자동치환). When a contact is added to the address book, a name and a notes field holding a coupon number, points balance, link or other individual detail can be stored, and those values are then filled into the subject line and body at send time. Emoji in subject lines are supported, which the page presents as a way to lift open rates.

Testing, scheduling and reporting

A/B testing is built in and covers three variables: the subject line, the sending address and the send time. The page frames it as a way to compare results and refine the sending strategy "in a single send". Scheduled sending can be set up once, weekly or monthly, so recurring newsletters or reminders go out without manual work.

For results, the service reports open rates, click rates and A/B test data, and a result archive keeps the reports of each bulk send for later reference, again free of charge. Surveys can be attached to any email, text or Kakao send to collect customer opinions and reviews; the page states that there is no limit on the number of responses and that a result report is provided. Short URLs can be added to email, text and Kakao messages at no cost.

Address book, external databases and the API

The address book is organized into group management, individual contacts, unsubscribe management, external database management and API link management. A blog guide on the home page explains how to register an address book from an Excel file. The external database option is the more interesting one for a business with a live customer database: the page says mail can be sent from a database that updates in real time without registering an address book first, and the home page describes it as linking directly to the operating website so mail goes out to the latest member information.

For developers, the API is offered free for bulk email, bulk text and Kakao sending. The bulk email page says it lets a business send automatic mail such as signup and order completion messages, with integration examples in PHP, ASP and Java.

Deliverability and account security

On delivery, the company says it achieves a high success rate through sending domain authentication and sender IP management, and fast sending through distributed server processing and optimization. The FAQ says there is no daily limit on the number of emails, since this is a bulk service; a sender can send as much as the prepaid balance covers. For account protection, the page lists two-step login verification and restrictions by country and IP address.

The site also carries a notice about text messaging: from September 30, 2026, blocking of invalid sender numbers applies around the clock, and messages sent from a canceled or suspended number may not be delivered.

Pricing

DirectSend is prepaid. The pricing section, headed "국내 최저 단일 발송 요금" (the lowest single sending rate in Korea, in the company's own words), lists these per-message rates, excluding VAT:

• Email: 0.5 won
• SMS: 9.5 won
• LMS: 27 won
• MMS: 85 won
• AlimTalk: 7.5 won
• Brand message: 22 won

The page stresses that the rate is a single price without conditions: even the minimum top-up sends email at 0.5 won each. Top-ups start from 5,000 won, and the online quote tool offers preset amounts up to 99,000 won or a custom amount, with 10% VAT added on top. A quote can also be calculated by the number of messages per channel. Quotes entered as a custom amount are paid into a dedicated account rather than by card or bank transfer. Customers topping up 1 million won or more per month are asked to contact the company by phone for separate terms.

The balance can be spent on email, text and Kakao messages without restriction, only successful sends are charged, and failed sends "are refunded immediately". There is no separate demo or free trial; instead, the FAQ says new members receive a 1,000 won signup credit so they can try a test send.

The mail builder, the 080 unsubscribe number, the bulk sending API, surveys and their reports, result archiving, templates and short URLs are all listed as free add-on services.

Korean advertising rules

A good part of the site is given over to Korean anti-spam law. Under the Information and Communications Network Act, it explains, commercial advertising messages must carry the "(광고)" (advertisement) label and a free 080 opt-out number, and leaving them out exposes the sender to a fine of up to 30 million won. DirectSend provides a free 080 opt-out number and a button in the text editor that inserts both, noting that with the label and opt-out added, an SMS has room for 23 Korean characters. It walks through correct and incorrect examples, such as writing "광고)" instead of "(광고)" or leaving out the word for free.

Its terms also list grounds for suspending an account, among them continued resending after a recipient has opted out, mass spam, and sending text messages with a falsified caller number, which can lead to a suspension of at least 12 months.

Support

Customer support runs by phone on weekdays from 9:00 to 18:00, with a lunch break from 12:00 to 13:00 and closure on Sundays and public holidays. There is also a 1:1 inquiry form, an FAQ, manuals and a blog with how-to articles, including one on building newsletters with ChatGPT and one on using the mail builder without a designer. A service proposal document and the online quote tool are available from the menu.

Who it suits

DirectSend suits businesses sending to Korean customers who want email, text and Kakao messages under one prepaid balance: online shops sending newsletters and shopping mail, membership programs sending personalized coupons and points, and services that need signup and order confirmations through an API. The flat per-message price with no monthly fee works well for irregular volumes, and the built-in handling of the advertising label and 080 opt-out takes care of a legal detail that trips up many Korean senders.

Automation is centered on scheduled sends, API-triggered messages and A/B tests rather than multi-step journeys, and the whole service, including support, is in Korean.