Taegwon Lee, CEO of Barogo, Submits Absence Letter for National Assembly Audit
Opposition: "Barogo, No.1 in Industrial Accidents, Must Appear and Explain at the Audit"
Delivery Agency Rider Safety Responsibility Likely to Be Criticized
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] On the 21st, the issue of responsibility for delivery riders' safety management is expected to arise during the National Assembly audit.
At the comprehensive audit held by the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee on the same day, Lee Tae-kwon, CEO of the delivery agency Barogo, was scheduled to appear as a witness.
However, recently, Lee notified his absence due to health reasons, raising concerns that he might be trying to evade responsibility for rider safety management.
Earlier, the office of Park Dae-soo, a member of the People Power Party who requested Lee's attendance, claimed based on data recently submitted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor that Barogo had the highest number of industrial accident cases involving riders over the past five years.
The total number of riders who suffered industrial accidents in the past five years was 7,224. By company, Barogo had the highest number with 504 cases, followed by Saenggakdaero with 447, Bureung with 217, Yogiyo with 173, Baedal Minjok with 40, and Coupang Eats with 2. Over the five years, the number of industrial accident deaths was 4 each for Barogo and Saenggakdaero, 1 for Bureung, and 1 for Yogiyo.
Barogo stated that "the statistics are inaccurate as the investigation was based on the business names of local delivery agencies to which the industrial accident riders belonged." Barogo is a delivery agency program provider and does not conduct aggregation or investigation of the number of industrial accident riders. In the Ministry of Employment and Labor's investigation, 5,841 industrial accident riders were categorized as "others" due to reasons such as being unable to identify the affiliated company.
Additionally, Barogo argued, "We have made efforts on-site to encourage riders to enroll in industrial accident insurance," and claimed that "ranking based solely on the number of industrial accidents is unfair." They stated that they have aligned with the government's policy to expand industrial accident insurance coverage for riders, and it is difficult to accept criticism at the audit simply because the number of industrial accidents is high.
In September last year, the Economic, Social and Labor Council, a social dialogue body under the president, reached an agreement among labor, management, and government to work towards expanding industrial accident insurance enrollment for riders.
Lee recently underwent surgery on his metatarsal bone and submitted a letter of absence from the audit due to health reasons. Park's office is firmly opposing this, stating, "It is right for him to appear at the audit and state his position."
A representative from Park's office acknowledged, "We admit the statistics are inaccurate, but that is the best available," adding, "Currently, neither the government nor the industry has accurate statistics." They further criticized, "Delivery program providers are trying to evade moral and legal responsibility for rider safety issues while remaining in a blind spot of the system."
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