Amid a series of recent worker casualties at Coupang logistics centers, it has belatedly come to light that a similar incident occurred about a month ago in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.
According to the Yongin Dongbu Police Station on December 2, at around 6:05 p.m. on October 24, a man in his 50s, identified as A, collapsed at the Coupang Yongin 5 Center in Namsa-eup, Cheoin-gu, Yongin. Emergency responders transported him to the hospital, where he received treatment and was later discharged.
It was confirmed that A, who worked as a day laborer performing parcel sorting tasks, had been working both day and night shifts on a flexible schedule for about a month.
According to police, Coupang's day laborers are typically assigned to three shifts: from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. the next day, and from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. It was confirmed that on the day of his death, A was scheduled to work from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m. the following day. Police explained that, depending on the situation at the logistics center, the working hours of day laborers may vary slightly.
Previously, at around 2:04 a.m. on October 26, a man in his 50s, identified as B, who was working on picking tasks as a short-term contract worker, collapsed and died at the Coupang Gyeonggi Gwangju 5 Center in Munhyeong-dong, Gwangju. On October 21 at around 10:30 p.m., a man in his 30s, identified as C, who was working on packaging tasks as a contract worker, suddenly collapsed and died at the cafeteria of Coupang Dongtan 1 Center in Sindong, Hwaseong. The National Forensic Service concluded that both deaths were presumed to be due to underlying health conditions.
However, some in the labor community have raised suspicions of death from overwork in light of the consecutive fatalities, and are calling for investigations and countermeasures.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Employment and Labor will begin an inspection of Coupang starting on December 10 in response to the series of fatal accidents. The inspection will target Coupang logistics centers (Coupang Fulfillment Service) and Coupang delivery camps (Coupang Logistics). Specifically, the plan is to inspect four logistics centers and three delivery camps where recent deaths have occurred, as well as 15 delivery agencies that have signed delivery outsourcing contracts.
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