On December 30, Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Younghoon stated that the death of delivery worker Oh Seungyong, who died in an accident while making early morning deliveries for Coupang, "appears to be a clear case of 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 parliamentary hearing held to address Coupang’s security incidents, personal information leaks, unfair trade practices, and working environment, as well as to discuss measures to prevent recurrence.
Oh, a delivery driver employed by a Coupang partner company, suffered severe injuries after crashing a 1-ton truck into a utility pole on a road in Ora 2-dong, Jeju City, at around 2:10 a.m. on November 10, and died at 3:10 p.m. the same day. At the hearing, Oh’s family, who attended as observers, stated, "Not a single Coupang employee attended the funeral, and to this day, they have ignored us without any contact." In response, Herald Rogers, Interim CEO of Coupang, apologized, saying, "We are truly sorry. I offer my deepest condolences." However, when asked about recognition of the industrial accident and compensation, he avoided a direct answer, stating, "Discussions are ongoing."
Minister Kim said, "This is extremely wrong, and I suspect that the company may have exploited the structural issue where employment becomes unstable if delivery quotas are not met." He added, "We will support the prompt handling of the industrial accident by the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service." Minister Kim also mentioned that Coupang appeared to have obstructed 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 an executive via the Signal messenger app to downplay and conceal the incident. If this incident is confirmed to be true, it could be considered an obstruction of the investigation into the cause of a major industrial accident.
Additionally, Minister Kim acknowledged the need for a special labor inspection regarding the possibility of Coupang concealing industrial accidents. On this day, Ahn Hoyoung, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out, "According to three years of accident data from Coupang Fulfillment Services (CFS), only 359 out of 710 accidents resulted in ambulance transport. The remaining 351 cases used company vehicles or other means, and it appears they were not processed as industrial accidents," adding, "A special labor inspection by the Ministry of Employment and Labor is necessary." Minister Kim agreed, stating, "There appears to be a strong possibility of violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act," and added, "A special labor inspection is definitely necessary, and we will conduct a full investigation."
Regarding suspicions that Coupang split its company structure to prevent the formation of a labor union, Minister Kim said, "Coupang has three unusual types of employment: directly hired delivery workers, delivery workers employed by the subsidiary Coupang Logistics Services (CLS), and specially contracted workers hired through agency contracts with dealerships." He added, "The public will find it difficult to understand why workers performing the same work are subject to three different types of employment." 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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