"Ministry of Employment and Labor Handed Coupang a 'Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card'": Bereaved Family and Labor Circles Backlash

[Anchor]

Despite acknowledging such inappropriate directives, the decision that it is difficult to hold anyone accountable has drawn strong backlash from the bereaved family and labor circles. They criticized the authorities for giving Coupang a free pass without conducting a proper investigation.

Reporter Lee Seong-hoon has the details.

[Reporter]

It has already been six years since Coupang worker late Jang Deok-jun passed away.

Although Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon criticized the situation after watching the National Assembly's hearing on Coupang last January, saying, "It makes me wonder if this can even be fixed," the investigation concluded with a recommendation for non-indictment.

[Park Mi-sook / Mother of the Late Jang Deok-jun: Why have we spent six years unable to do anything, fighting while throwing everything away, only to end up with a result that feels completely pointless. We are now left with zero trust in the Ministry of Employment and Labor.]

The Coupang Countermeasure Committee criticized that the non-indictment recommendation was reached without even summoning Board Chairman Kim Bom-suk for questioning once, raising suspicions that they tried to give Coupang a clean slate.

[Kim Hye-jin / Executive Committee Member, Coupang Countermeasure Committee: This goes beyond merely pointing out the inadequacies in the investigation and supervision. We harbor strong suspicions that the Ministry of Employment and Labor's investigation was conducted from the beginning to grant Coupang a get-out-of-jail-free card.]

They also pointed out as problematic the conclusion that the charge of concealing an industrial accident could not be applied because the occurrence of the accident was reported.

[Kim Hye-jin / Executive Committee Member, Coupang Countermeasure Committee: Concealing an industrial accident includes not only hiding the fact of the accident itself, but there is also an obligation to properly maintain the causes and records of industrial accidents. Failing to do all of this also constitutes concealing an industrial accident.]

Regarding the suspicion of a so-called hiring blacklist, the Ministry of Employment and Labor concluded that while the list was created, there was no evidence it was used to obstruct employment at other companies, thus finding no violation of the law. As for suspicions that underperforming workers were driven out by being given impossible tasks, the ministry stated that there were no actual cases that led to dismissal, and therefore no relevant regulations were violated.

The countermeasure committee argued that "major suspicions were cleared en masse" and that "the investigation was shoddy."

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions also issued a statement, criticizing that "the Ministry of Employment and Labor, which cannot even call the concealment of industrial accidents an industrial accident, has handed Coupang a get-out-of-jail-free card," while demanding further investigations and a re-evaluation of the blacklist and illegal dispatch rulings.

The Coupang Countermeasure Committee plans to hold a press conference in front of the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Administration today (October 23) to denounce the investigation and supervision results.

Coupang stated that it would take necessary measures, but expressed regret, saying, "It was announced as if inappropriate directives were confirmed to be true, based solely on the one-sided claims of a former executive who was dismissed for misconduct and lost in a lawsuit."

(Video by: Cho Chang-hyun | Video Editing by: Choi Hye-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.