The National Courier Union filed a complaint with police against founding member Bom Kim, chair of Coupang Inc., saying Coupang tried to systematically downplay and cover up industrial accidents.
The courier union and the Countermeasures Committee for Courier Workers' Overwork Deaths filed a complaint with the Korean National Police Agency on the 23rd, accusing Chair Kim of incitement to destroy evidence and violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act, among other charges.
In a press conference statement, they said, "The late Jang Deok-jun died of overwork at a Coupang logistics center on Oct. 12, 2020, after excessive labor," and claimed, "Chair Bom Kim selected only the footage favorable to the company from the CCTV videos showing the deceased at work and gave an instruction to the effect of 'make sure there is no record of working hard left.'"
They added, "According to that instruction, Coupang employees analyzed, second by second, the footage from eight CCTV cameras filmed over the six days just before the death, and produced distorted materials that highlighted scenes of drinking water, going to the restroom, and moving without loads to make it seem as if there was ample break and standby time."
The courier union and others said, "This is not simple corporate crisis management, but incitement to destroy evidence under the Criminal Act and an act of concealing industrial accidents and obstructing cause investigation prohibited by the Occupational Safety and Health Act," adding, "If the chief executive officer directly intervened to conceal the truth and evade social responsibility, it is a serious crime."
They continued, "The whole nation is enraged watching Chair Bom Kim, who does not even properly apologize when a worker loses a life or when the personal information of tens of millions of citizens is leaked," and said, "Chair Bom Kim must no longer evade responsibility with silence and must apologize right now before the public and the bereaved family."