Bereaved Families Challenge Coupang Labor Inspection Findings

Bereaved relatives of industrial accident victims at Coupang criticized South Korea’s labor ministry on Friday over its inspection of the e-commerce company, arguing that the process failed to deliver a proper investigation into the death of a logistics worker.

The criticism followed the ministry’s announcement on Thursday that it would not recommend a criminal investigation into allegations that circumstances surrounding the worker’s death had been covered up. The employee died from an acute myocardial infarction in 2020 after completing an overnight shift, prompting suspicions that overwork may have contributed to the death.

According to the ministry’s inspection findings, Coupang founder Kim Bom-suk had issued instructions not to retain records indicating that the employee had worked hard. The ministry nevertheless said the applicable statute of limitations had already expired, preventing it from recommending the criminal inquiry sought by the families.

In a statement, the bereaved families accused the ministry of giving Coupang a free pass. They said the outcome was inadequate because it ended without the criminal investigation they believed the findings warranted. Their objection focused not only on the company’s conduct but also on whether government authorities had acted promptly and thoroughly enough after the worker’s death.

The families have now asked the Board of Audit and Inspection, South Korea’s state auditing agency, to review the labor ministry’s handling of the case. They contend that the government’s failure to investigate properly allowed the limitations period to lapse. The request shifts part of the dispute toward the conduct of the regulator and the timing of its response.

The case centers on accountability for a workplace death in Coupang’s logistics operations and on the consequences of delayed enforcement. The ministry’s decision does not resolve the families’ concerns about how evidence was handled or why the case was not advanced before the statutory deadline.

For the relatives, the expired limitations period is therefore not simply a procedural barrier. It is part of their complaint about the investigation itself. Their appeal to the state auditor seeks an independent examination of whether the ministry’s actions contributed to the case reaching a point where criminal referral was no longer available. The labor ministry’s inspection has ended without such a referral, but the families’ audit request keeps scrutiny on the government response and the unresolved allegations surrounding the 2020 death.