On December 30, Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Younghoon stated regarding the death of courier worker Oh Seungyong, who died in an accident while making early morning deliveries for Coupang, "It appears highly likely to be classified as an industrial accident." He also acknowledged the need for a special labor inspection regarding the possibility of concealing the industrial accident.
Minister Kim made these remarks in response to a question from Choi Minhee, Chairperson of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee, during a hearing held at the National Assembly on the same day. The hearing was convened to investigate Coupang’s security breaches, personal information leaks, unfair trade practices, and working conditions, and to discuss measures to prevent recurrence.
Oh, a courier for a Coupang partner company, suffered severe injuries at around 2:10 a.m. on November 10, when he crashed a 1-ton truck into a utility pole on a road in Ora 2-dong, Jeju City. He died at 3:10 p.m. that same day. At the hearing, Oh’s family, attending as observers, stated, "Not a single Coupang employee came to the funeral, and to this day, there has been no contact; they have simply ignored us." In response, Harold Rogers, Acting CEO of Coupang, said, "We are truly sorry. Please accept our deepest condolences," but avoided a direct answer regarding recognition of the industrial accident and compensation, saying, "Discussions are ongoing."
Minister Kim commented, "This is extremely wrong, and I suspect that the company may have exploited the structural issue where job security becomes unstable if delivery quotas are not met." He added, "We will provide support to ensure that the industrial accident claim is processed as quickly as possible by the Korea Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service." Minister Kim also mentioned that Coupang appeared to have interfered with the investigation into a major industrial accident. Previously, a media outlet reported that, regarding the case of Jang Deokjun, a Coupang logistics center worker who died of a myocardial infarction on October 12, 2020, Bom Kim, Chairman of Coupang Inc., instructed Coupang executives via the 'Signal' messenger to downplay and conceal the incident. If this is confirmed to be true, it could be considered interference with the investigation into the cause of a major industrial accident.
In addition, Minister Kim acknowledged the necessity of a special labor inspection regarding the possibility of Coupang concealing industrial accidents. On the same day, Ahn Ho-young, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, stated, "According to three years of accident data from Coupang Fulfillment Services (CFS), out of 710 incidents, only 359 cases involved ambulance transport. The remaining 351 cases used company vehicles, and it appears that industrial accident claims were not filed." He argued, "A special labor inspection by the Ministry of Employment and Labor is necessary." Minister Kim responded, "There appears to be significant potential for violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act," and added, "A special labor inspection is certainly necessary, and we will conduct a full investigation."
Regarding allegations that Coupang split the company to prevent union formation, Minister Kim stated, "Coupang employs three unusual types of courier workers: directly employed couriers, those employed by the subsidiary Coupang Logistics Services (CLS), and specially contracted workers who have agency or subcontractor agreements. The public will find it difficult to understand why workers performing the same job have three different types of employment contracts." There was also a suggestion that the personnel management system, which assigns grades based on individual performance, needs to be thoroughly examined.
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