The conservative opposition brought up the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU)'s call to ban "dawn delivery" as a livelihood issue. The People Power Party and the Reform Party will hold back-to-back forums to criticize the push to ban dawn delivery.
The People Power Party's policy committee held a forum at the National Assembly members' office building on the afternoon of the 15th under the theme, "Ban on dawn delivery: whose dawn is this choice for?" The Reform Party also plans to hold a forum at the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 18th to criticize the call to ban dawn delivery.
What the opposition focused on was the relationship between the KCTU and the Coupang union. On Oct. 22, the KCTU argued at the "parcel delivery social dialogue body meeting" led by the Democratic Party of Korea that dawn delivery (12 a.m.–5 a.m.) should be banned. In politics, some say this is retaliation for the Coupang union's withdrawal from the KCTU in 2023.
Kim Hyeong-dong, a People Power Party lawmaker who serves as the opposition secretary on the National Assembly's Committee on Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor, said at the forum, "If you look beneath the surface of why they insist only Coupang's dawn delivery should be banned, it is because the KCTU tried and failed to unionize at Coupang," adding, "I think the KCTU, putting organizational interests first, has chosen Coupang as a (target of attack)."
The strong public backlash against banning dawn delivery is also noteworthy. A petition opposing the ban submitted to the National Assembly started on the 13th of last month and won the support of 67,928 people. If a National Assembly petition gains the support of more than 50,000 people within 30 days of submission, it is taken up by the relevant standing committee.
Woo Jae-jun, the People Power Party's supreme council member for youth, said, "Under the National Assembly Act, a subcommittee on petitions must be convened to facilitate public discussion related to the ban on dawn delivery," adding, "The Lee Jae-myung administration has been neglectful where dialogue is needed, and discussions on banning dawn delivery must not proceed while excluding the parcel delivery workers who are the parties directly involved."
The Reform Party is also keeping the dawn delivery ban issue alive. Kim Seong-yeol, the Reform Party's senior supreme council member, criticized Minister Kim Young-hoon of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) for saying that "night work corresponds to a Group 2 carcinogen," noting, "By the same logic, to avoid sunlight, which is a Group 1 carcinogen, we should from now on ban all citizens' daytime activities."