[Column] The Humiliation Coupang Inflicted on Its Workers

Perceptions of Part-Time Labor and the Overwork Controversy
The Fundamental Error of Treating Work as a Commodity
Work as Both a Means of Livelihood and the Core of Human Dignity

As we begin a new year, we all quietly reflect on what we need to accomplish in the coming months. We separate the tasks we must complete, the challenges we must face, the things we want to do, and the goals we hope to achieve, estimating the time and effort each will require. The more time we devote to what we want to do and what we hope to achieve, the more our hearts swell with hope. When our lives are filled with obligations and unavoidable tasks, we become trapped in the present and lose sight of the future. Now, as the new year has just begun and there is still plenty of time ahead, this is the moment for everyone to dream about the future rather than dwell on the present.

Yet, even in this promising season, I found myself feeling uneasy. It was because of a comment made by Bom Suk Kim, Chairman of Coupang. He said, "Part-time workers are not paid based on performance, so why would they work hard? It doesn't make sense." As I was making plans for the year, I couldn't shake off the distorted perception of labor and the disregard for others' dignity embedded in his words. They contained an age-old question about the nature of human labor: Why do people work themselves to exhaustion? What does work truly mean to a person?

Kim made this remark in 2020 while serving as the CEO of Coupang Korea. In October of that year, Deok Jun Jang, an employee at Coupang, died of a myocardial infarction. He had just finished his shift after working early morning hours at a Coupang logistics center for a year and four months. His death was attributed to overwork due to excessive and prolonged labor. After the incident, Kim instructed company officials via messenger to "make sure there is no record that Jang worked hard." He reportedly mentioned terms like "drinking water, using the restroom, waiting, moving empty carts," which appeared to suggest these activities should be excluded from working hours. Coupang denied these claims, but after four years of legal battles by Jang's family, his death was officially recognized as being caused by overwork.

In "How Inequality Eats at the Body" (Dolbegae), Professor Arline Geronimus of the University of Michigan describes the health problems that befall hardworking people as "weathering." Weathering refers to the process of erosion, a term from meteorology that describes how rocks are worn away by wind and rain. Discrimination or prejudice based on class, gender, or race imposes repeated stress on the socially disadvantaged. Just as rocks exposed to the elements wear down faster, weathering means that frequent stress accumulates in the body and damages health.

If you are poor but diligent, you get sick faster and die sooner. This is because, to support their families and keep their households afloat, people risk dangerous working conditions and pour their passion into their work. Harsh labor that pushes human limits accelerates aging, causes chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, and can lead to disability or sudden death. The irony is that those who are forced to work hard because of poverty end up dying sooner the harder they work, trapping workers in a vicious cycle. During the industrialization era, we often heard people say, "After working myself to death, now that I can finally live, my body is falling apart." This is the result of weathering.

According to Geronimus, in organizations or societies where there is a prevailing culture of attributing health to personal responsibility rather than structural issues, diligent people become ill and die even sooner. When deaths keep occurring in the workplace, it is the responsibility of management to examine whether there are problems in their labor structure. Coupang did not do this. As Kim said, part-time workers may have no reason to work themselves to death. But this does not mean that logistics center workers are justified in working half-heartedly. On the contrary, such an attitude seems to have led Coupang to create a system in which workers have no choice but to work to exhaustion. The labor authorities' recognition of Deok Jun Jang's death as being caused by overwork is clear evidence of this.

According to an investigative report by a journalist, labor at Coupang's logistics centers is subject to constant pressure from CCTV cameras that monitor every corner of the workplace, conveyor belts that endlessly deliver goods, and managers who constantly shout for faster work. In such an environment, when night and day are reversed and early morning shifts stretch on for long hours, the weathering effect wears down the body until it suddenly gives out. Even though the reality of the logistics center is well known, instead of offering an apology, to say that "working hard doesn't make sense" is shameless and inhumane. It feels as if one is dealing with an emotionless monster, an economic animal who evaluates others and the world only in terms of money.

Moreover, viewing work solely as a commodity to be bought and sold reflects a poor work ethic. In "What Work Means to Me" (Ihu), Professor John Budd of the University of Minnesota states that modern work ethics began when people moved away from the materialistic view that work is merely a commodity. People do not work hard solely for money. Work is "an activity pursued by humans who possess the firm rights of dignity and self-determination." Through work, people open the path to realizing their freedom and expand their opportunities for independence and self-sufficiency.

Work is a way to demonstrate one's belonging to a community and to prove one's equality as a free and independent citizen within it. People work diligently even when no one is watching, both to satisfy themselves and to earn the recognition of others. To assume that part-time workers do not work hard is to see others not as inherently valuable, but as labor vending machines that produce results only in proportion to the money inserted. Pope Leo XIII criticized such callous attitudes in his encyclical: "Justice demands respect for the dignity of the worker's personality. It is shameful and inhuman if a person is used merely as a means to profit and is valued only for their muscles and strength."

Weathering-the phenomenon of workers falling ill and dying from enduring harsh labor-occurs when low wages, long working hours, dangerous conditions, personal disrespect, and structural discrimination are combined. Yet, even in such poor environments, work itself can be enjoyable and rewarding. Joseph Conrad once said, "Like others, I dislike work. But I enjoy the possibility of discovering myself in it." Good people confirm their integrity through work, show their worth to their colleagues, and pursue personal growth through broad relationships. In short, work is at the core of human dignity. Perhaps that is why we feel so deeply insulted by the narrow-minded attitude of viewing work solely in terms of money.

Jang Eunsu, Publishing Culture Critic