Coupang CEO Faces Probe Over 46 Worker Deaths and 37.5 Million-User Breach
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 24
Coupang CEO Faces Probe Over 46 Worker Deaths and 37.5 Million-User Breach
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 24
Summary
Police opened a criminal investigation into Coupang in December 2025, and CEO Harold Rogers was later summoned to parliament over worker deaths tied to overwork and a data breach affecting 37.5 million users.
Comwel has recognized 46 work-related deaths from stroke or heart disease among warehouse and delivery workers between 2020 and May 2026, including 27-year-old Jang Deok-jun, whose death it linked to overwork.
Jang's case intensified scrutiny after a former privacy officer alleged Chairman Bom Kim ordered references to him "working hard" removed from internal reports; Coupang called the claim groundless and denied any cover-up.
The pressure extends beyond one case: another driver, 34-year-old Oh Seung-yong, was ruled an occupational death after long night shifts, while unions say overnight delivery schedules and pay-per-package incentives push workers past safe limits.
The controversy has become a broader test for President Lee Jae Myung's workplace-safety agenda in a country with persistently high industrial death rates and no legal cap on overnight working hours.