Coupang "Strong Response to False Information Spread Regarding Employee Death at Daegu Logistics Center"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheolhyun] Coupang announced on the 27th that it will strongly respond to distortions of facts claiming the death of an employee who was in charge of packaging material support work at a logistics center was due to 'death from overwork caused by excessive sorting work.'

According to Coupang, the short-term employee at the Daegu logistics center who died on the 12th was responsible for packaging support work unrelated to parcel sorting. Coupang has a separate team of 4,400 personnel dedicated to parcel sorting. While some claim that the deceased suffered from brutal working conditions to become a regular employee, Coupang stated this is not true. "We have continuously offered permanent positions for regular employment conversion, and in fact, we proposed a permanent position to the deceased more than 20 times just last month," Coupang explained. Coupang also added, "The company does not have the authority to order day laborers to come to work, nor does it impose disadvantages based on attendance."

Regarding the claim that the deceased "refused a request to change duties," Coupang explained, "The deceased's work had high satisfaction, so requests for job changes were almost nonexistent," and "The deceased never requested a change of duties due to difficulty during the employment period." Coupang stated, "The 7th floor has the lowest work intensity due to fewer workstations, lighter handling weights, and lower packaging material usage," and "Employees can freely choose their shifts, floors, and types of work at any time, including day and night shifts."

Regarding the claim that the deceased "worked 55.8 hours per week," Coupang stated, "The deceased's average weekly working hours were 44 hours according to the Labor Standards Act," and "The maximum working hours were 52.5 hours per week." A Coupang official said, "Some are spreading false information by portraying the tragic death of the deceased as a death from overwork of a delivery driver," and "We will strongly respond to such distortions of facts in the future."

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