Courier Dies After Nonstop Work, Express Delivery System Under Scrutiny

A humanitarian tragedy has once again lifted the veil on the dark side of South Korea’s e-commerce and 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, but its impact continued to fuel national debate until mid-2026. Jang’s death was officially designated by South Korea’s labour insurance agency, Comwel, as a case of death due to overwork. The scandal intensified after the leak of internal Coupang conversations. Coupang Chairman Bom Kim allegedly ordered subordinates to delete the phrase that the victim ‘worked hard’ from the company’s internal report. Although Coupang denied the allegations and claimed they were baseless, local police launched a criminal investigation in December 2025 over the alleged concealment of evidence. Public pressure mounted further after the death of another courier, Oh Seung-yong (34), came to light. Coupang CEO Harold Rogers was even summoned to appear before the South Korean parliament in late 2025 to issue a public apology for the series of incidents. Coupang, the e-commerce giant often referred to as the ‘Amazon of South Korea’, has successfully dominated the market thanks to its dawn delivery service (by 7:00 a.m.). However, this high-speed business model is supported by tens of thousands of workers, including couriers, who operate under extreme pressure. Comwel data recorded that at least 46 warehouse workers and couriers died from strokes or heart disease classified as industrial accidents between 2020 and May 2026. An economic dilemma surrounds the workers themselves. Some couriers admitted to choosing night shifts because they were enticed by lucrative earnings of up to 7 million won per month, nearly double the national average salary. The Herald Insight reported on 6 January 2026 that a CLS courier in his 40s collapsed on duty and died after struggling for four days in the intensive care unit. He took his last breath due to a myocardial infarction, a medical condition closely linked to extreme work pressure and severe fatigue. A shocking fact emerged from the victim’s personal calendar. The day he collapsed was marked with an ‘X’, indicating a scheduled day off. However, due to the pressure of the work system and high operational demands, the victim was still asked to come to the logistics centre to take an extra shift. Records from the five days before the incident showed the victim was under the intimidation of a heavy workload. Logistics centre management routinely sent text messages summoning couriers to work, even on their rest days. The repeated deaths have triggered a strong reaction from the Committee for Countermeasures against Overwork Deaths of Delivery Couriers. In an emergency press conference, the committee urged the abolition of a strict rotation system known as the cleansing system. This system forces couriers to undergo physically draining night shifts and move rapidly between delivery areas to meet strict quota targets. At the regulatory level, the dynamics of the dispute are sharpening. Attempts at social dialogue in the South Korean National Assembly ultimately failed after both sides could not reach an agreement. This case underscores the major dilemma of the modern logistics industry, where business efficiency and productivity are still prioritised over human safety and life. 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 work-related deaths through a 52-hour work week limit. On the other hand, a proposal to relax night delivery rules to break Coupang’s monopoly has triggered a wave of protests from labour unions. ‘Jang and tens of thousands of workers like him are on one side of the seesaw for the convenience of consumers on the other,’ Park Mi-suk said in front of Coupang’s headquarters in Seoul. ‘I hope we do not become a society that turns a blind eye to the sacrifices of others for a little convenience,’ she added.