Coupang denies forcing employees to deliver in monsoon after worker found dead

Coupang's logistics subsidiary denied forcing employees to work during heavy rain after a delivery worker tragically died.

Coupang delivery trucks [YONHAP]

Coupang’s logistics subsidiary denied reports of forcing employees to work during heavy rain after a part-time delivery worker was found dead last week trying to deliver in a downpour.

The Korean e-commerce giant came under fire after an employee of delivery service Coupang Flex, which pays per completed order, was swept away into rapids on July 9 and found dead two days later.

“There are no penalties given to delivery workers if they need to delay a delivery or are downright unable to deliver due to worsened weather conditions,” Coupang Logistics Service (CLS), the logistics subsidiary of Coupang, told media Thursday.

“The safety of our delivery workers is our utmost priority.”

CLS also said that it monitors the weather and, in the event of heavy rain, sends its drivers safety measures and asks them to pause deliveries.

“We have been pausing delivery in bad weather conditions so far,” CLS said. “We took action during this heavy rain as we asked to pause delivery service in northern and southern Gyeonggi.”

“We ask our customers to understand that delivery may be delayed during bad weather conditions.”

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]