ED Another death at Coupang
Coupang CEO Bom Kim poses in this Feb. 3, 2020 photo / Courtesy of Coupang
CEO Bom Kim must confront human costs of business model
Another worker collapsed and died during a late-night shift at a Coupang logistics center. He had been on the job for just eight months. His death is not an isolated tragedy, nor can it be dismissed as an unforeseeable accident. It is part of a grim and sustained pattern at one of Korea’s most powerful corporations, one in which grieving families and colleagues repeatedly carry the burden of proving what should already be obvious: that the system is failing, that workers are paying the price and that the company responsible has yet to take meaningful responsibility.
The succession of deaths at Coupang over the past several years has laid bare something larger than a single company’s negligence. It has exposed a structural disaster unfolding in plain sight, one driven by deregulation, an economic model built on prioritizing speed and a corporate culture that treats human limits as obstacles to be engineered away. What is happening at Coupang is a warning about the consequences of unchecked competition and weak government oversight.
Part of the problem lies in the regulatory vacuum that allowed Coupang to expand at breakneck pace. Classified as an online, “storeless” retailer, the company has long avoided many of the regulatory constraints placed on traditional large-scale distributors. Its delivery subsidiary, Coupang CLS, similarly sidestepped the protections established in the 2021 agreement meant to prevent overwork among parcel couriers. By exploiting these regulatory blind spots, Coupang grew into a dominant force that now shapes both the retail and logistics sectors, essentially as an unregulated giant.
But the root of the crisis is the industry’s relentless acceleration, epitomized by Coupang’s Rocket Delivery service. Celebrated for its near-instant convenience, Rocket Delivery is predicated on labor conditions that push workers — often young, precariously employed or migrants — far beyond safe limits. Overnight shifts that stretch until dawn, weeks without proper rest, unpaid sorting tasks and ever-rising delivery quotas are features, not flaws, of a system designed to squeeze out every last second of operational speed.
Some media outlets have distorted calls for reducing overnight work by invoking fears of job losses or “logistics chaos.” These claims collapse under scrutiny. Reducing overnight labor does not eliminate jobs, but simply requires companies to hire more workers, expand daytime operations and invest in better infrastructure. When Hyundai Motor shifted to a daytime-focused, two-shift system, the predicted mass job losses never materialized. Likewise, concerns about a logistics breakdown overlook the obvious: Congestion and capacity issues are problems to be solved through corporate investment and planning, not through exhausting workers.
Unions have proposed a reasonable compromise of restricting late-night deliveries between midnight and 5 a.m., which would preserve consumer convenience while protecting the most vulnerable workers. Coupang itself publicly pledged in a National Assembly hearing earlier this year to reduce excessive overnight labor and ease physical workloads. Yet the company has failed to honor those commitments. On the ground, reports show that night shifts remain grueling and that delivery volume is still high.
At this point, the question is not whether change is necessary, but who will lead that change. Coupang must be held accountable, and that responsibility begins at the top. CEO Bom Kim cannot remain a distant figurehead while workers continue to die in environments shaped by his company’s business model. He must stand before workers, families and the public and articulate how Coupang will overhaul its labor practices, backed not by promises but by enforceable action. Real accountability requires visibility, transparency and leadership, not silence.
The government, too, must act decisively. Stronger inspections, enforcement of bans on consecutive fixed night shifts, mandatory health screenings for night shift workers and legally binding working hour limits for gig economy and special employment workers are overdue. Yet regulatory fixes alone cannot solve a crisis rooted in an economic logic that prizes convenience above human life.
Korea must confront an uncomfortable truth: A retail system that depends on “infinite speed” is neither sustainable nor just. No amount of efficiency or shareholder value can justify the death of a worker. It is time for the state to reassert its duty to safeguard life and safety, and for Coupang, led by Kim, to finally acknowledge and correct the human costs of its success.