[Anchor]

Coupang's bereaved families have protested the Ministry of Employment and Labor's decision that Coupang Inc. Chairman Kim Bom-suk cannot be held criminally liable. Labor groups criticized the decision as giving Coupang a free pass.

Reporter Lee Seong-hoon has the details.

[Reporter]

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

While Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon watched the parliamentary hearing on Coupang last January and criticized the company by saying, "It makes me wonder if they can ever be reformed," the investigation ultimately concluded with a recommendation for non-indictment.

[Park Mi-sook / Mother of the Late Jang Deok-jun: Why have we spent six years fighting with nothing, throwing everything away, only to end up with a result that feels completely meaningless? Our trust in the Ministry of Employment and Labor is now completely gone.]

The Countermeasure Committee for Coupang Workers criticized that a recommendation for non-indictment was issued without even a single summons or investigation of Chairman Kim Bom-suk, raising suspicions that the move was an attempt to grant Coupang a free pass.

[Kim Hye-jin / Executive Committee Member, Countermeasure Committee for Coupang Workers: This goes beyond merely criticizing the inadequacies of the investigation and supervision. We suspect that the Ministry of Employment and Labor's investigation was intended from the beginning to give Coupang a free pass.]

The committee also pointed out that the ministry's conclusion—that the charge of covering up industrial accidents could not be applied because the workplace accident had been reported—was problematic.

[Kim Hye-jin / Executive Committee Member, Countermeasure Committee for Coupang Workers: Cover-ups of industrial accidents include hiding the fact of the accident itself, but there is also a fundamental obligation to properly maintain records and causes of industrial accidents. Failing to do all of this also constitutes an industrial accident cover-up.]

Regarding allegations surrounding a so-called hiring blacklist, the Labor Ministry concluded that while a list was indeed compiled, there was no evidence it was used to obstruct employment at other companies, thereby finding no violation of the law. As for suspicions that Coupang forced low-performing workers out by assigning them impossible tasks, the ministry stated that no actual dismissals resulted from this, meaning related regulations were not violated.

The committee claimed that the investigation was shoddy, noting that major allegations were dismissed en masse without charges.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) also issued a statement criticizing that "a labor ministry that cannot even call an industrial accident cover-up a cover-up has handed Coupang a free pass," demanding additional investigations and a reexamination of decisions regarding the blacklist and illegal dispatch.

The Countermeasure Committee for Coupang Workers 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 will take necessary measures on required matters, while expressing regret, stating, "It has been announced as if inappropriate directives were confirmed as fact, based on the one-sided claims of a former executive who was dismissed for misconduct and lost related lawsuits."

(Video reporting: Cho Chang-hyun, Video editing: Choi Hye-young)