Courier Dies After Nonstop Work, Express Delivery System Under Scrutiny

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — A human tragedy has once again lifted the veil on the dark side behind the grandeur of the e-commerce industry and the South Korean logistics giant, Coupang. Park Mi-suk, a mother in South Korea, lost her son, Jang Deok-jun (27), who died of a heart attack after working marathon night shifts at a Coupang warehouse.

The dramatic incident occurred in 2020, yet its impact continues to fuel national debate into mid-2026. Jang’s death was officially designated by South Korea’s workers’ compensation agency, Comwel, as a case of death from overwork.

Leaked Internal Conversations and a Police Investigation

The scandal has grown hotter following the circulation of leaked internal Coupang conversations. Coupang Chairman Bom Kim is alleged to have ordered his subordinates to remove the phrase stating that the victim ‘worked hard’ from the company’s internal report.

Although Coupang denies the allegation and claims it is a baseless narrative, local police launched a criminal investigation in December 2025 over suspected evidence concealment.

Public pressure has mounted further after the death of another courier, Oh Seung-yong (34), came to light. Coupang CEO Harold Rogers was even summoned before the South Korean parliament in late 2025 to offer a public apology over the string of incidents.

Profits for Business, Losses for Workers?

Coupang, the e-commerce giant often dubbed ‘the Amazon of South Korea’, has conquered the market thanks to its dawn delivery service (by 07:00 in the morning). However, this high-speed business model is sustained by tens of thousands of workers, including couriers, who labour under extreme pressure.

Comwel data records at least 46 warehouse workers and couriers who have died from strokes or heart disease classified as workplace accidents between 2020 and May 2026.

On the other hand, an economic dilemma envelops the workers themselves. Some couriers admit to choosing night shifts because of the lure of lucrative earnings of up to 7 million won (around Rp80 million) per month — nearly double the average national wage.

The Herald Insight reported on 6 January 2026 that a courier in his 40s working for CLS, a Coupang subsidiary, collapsed whilst on duty and died after battling for four days in the intensive care unit (ICU).

He breathed his last as a result of a myocardial infarction, or heart attack — a medical condition closely linked to extreme work pressure and severe exhaustion.

A shocking fact emerged from the victim’s personal calendar. The day he collapsed was actually marked with an ‘X’ symbol, meaning it was his official rest day. However, due to the pressures of the work system and high operational demands, he was still asked to come to the logistics centre to take on an additional shift.

His record over the five days before the incident shows he was under the strain of a heavy workload. The logistics centre’s management routinely sent text messages calling couriers in to work, even on their days off.

An Economic Policy Dilemma

The repeated deaths have drawn a fierce reaction from the Committee Against Courier Overwork Deaths. At an emergency press conference, the committee demanded the abolition of the rigid rotation system known as the cleansing system.

This system forces couriers to endure physically draining night shifts and to move between delivery areas at speed in order to meet strict quota targets.

At the regulatory level, the dispute has grown increasingly fraught. Efforts at social dialogue in South Korea’s National Assembly ultimately ended in failure after both sides failed to reach an agreement. The case underscores a major dilemma of the modern logistics industry: when business efficiency and productivity are still prioritised above human safety and lives.

The overwork phenomenon has also become a major stumbling block for President Lee Jae Myung’s labour reform agenda. On one hand, the government is trying to reduce workplace deaths through a 52-hour weekly working limit. Yet on the other, a proposal to relax night delivery rules in order to break Coupang’s monopoly has instead triggered a wave of protests from trade unions.

‘Jang and tens of thousands of workers like him sit on one side of the seesaw for the convenience of consumers on the other side,’ said Park Mi-suk outside Coupang’s headquarters in Seoul, quoted by BBC International on Tuesday (28/7/2026).

‘I hope we do not become a society that turns a blind eye to other people’s sacrifices for the sake of a little convenience,’ she added.