In just a few years, Coupang 쿠팡 rose to be one of South Korea’s largest companies on the strength of Rocket Delivery 로켓배송’s guaranteed next-day delivery of orders, a pledge made possible by abusive labor conditions that have frequently resulted in workers dying from exhaustion. According to MBC News, Coupang also maintained a blacklist of individuals who complained about their working conditions, preventing them from working for Coupang again.
Article 40 of the Labor Standard Act 근로기준법 prohibits companies from creating documents or communications to hinder employment. The blacklist contained 7,791 individuals, including not only former workers, but also Assembly Member Lee Tan-hee 이탄희 and other journalists who worked at a Coupang logistics center to investigate the company’s abusive working conditions. Coupang claimed that the blacklist was “fake news” based on a doctored internal document stolen by a labor union member.
