"Let's at least apply industrial accident insurance" 청, measures to address delivery workers' death from overwork

Delivery Worker Dies in Accident During Shipping Duties
Hwang Deok-sun, Chief of Employment, "Strict Restrictions on Exclusion Applications for Industrial Accident Insurance"

A courier logistics center in downtown Seoul. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Seul-gi] On the 15th, the Blue House announced that it would review institutional measures, including promoting industrial accident insurance enrollment for special employment (special types of employment, or "teukso") workers, in relation to the late delivery worker Kim Won-jong (48), who died while performing delivery duties.

On the same day, Hwang Deok-soon, Senior Secretary for Jobs at the Blue House, said in an interview with MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" that "to prevent incidents like those involving the unfortunate deceased from happening again, we will strictly limit exemption applications unless the worker takes a long-term leave, is raising children, or has an illness."

He added, "There is a significant difference in positions between employer organizations and labor groups on how to protect teukso workers. So, the initial agreement was to at least apply industrial accident insurance." He explained, "By the end of this year, the expansion of industrial accident insurance coverage will include 14 occupations. However, during the expansion process, coverage was applied first, but a path was opened to allow exemption applications for those who wish."

He continued, "From the perspective of fundamental industrial safety, it is necessary to regulate long working hours and related issues. As I mentioned, labor-related laws commonly applied to regular workers do not apply to those classified as teukso workers." He added, "It is now a crucial time for the government to make full efforts to properly implement industrial safety measures and their application in the field."

Senior Secretary Hwang said, "Agreements on social safety nets, basic fair contracts, and similar matters are being formed, and the government plans to actively work to ensure these are upheld."

Earlier, Kim Won-jong, affiliated with CJ Logistics, suddenly experienced breathing difficulties while performing delivery duties on the 8th and was taken to a hospital, where he passed away.

On the afternoon of the 14th, Kim Won-jong's father expressed his frustration at the CJ Logistics headquarters in Jung-gu, saying, "Delivery workers bring in all the money for the company, but they don't even have time to eat. They should have been given time to eat. Our son had to be the last one to suffer like this."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.