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Parliamentary committee to review delivery workers' rights

Published: 12 May. 2025, 17:10

LEE SOO-JUNG
[email protected]

Workers sort parcels at a logistics center in southern Seoul in January. [YONHAP]

The National Assembly said Monday it may provide parliamentary recommendations to Korea’s parcel delivery service and operators — known for their remarkable speed — on protecting workers’ rights.

A petition to guarantee the right to rest and to devise measures to prevent death from overwork gained 51,091 public signatures, referring the case to the parliamentary Environment and Labor Committee.

In Korea, overnight or same-day delivery has become prevalent among e-commerce and logistics services.

Coupang, with a 34.8 percent market share in last year's first quarter, and CJ Logistics, with 29 percent, both provide swift delivery services to cater to consumers’ needs — shorter wait times.

While such rapid service appeared to improve consumer convenience, laborers in the delivery industry have accused the companies of exploitation.

Last year, Jeong Seul-gi, a Coupang deliveryperson in his 40s, died from cardiac infarction — a typical cause of death from overwork, according to a civilian committee representing delivery service workers. The committee said Jeong worked around 10.5 hours a day from 8:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. the next day for six days a week, exceeding the 52-hour workweek rule.

A total of 36 deaths of delivery people were acknowledged as industrial disasters between 2017 and June last year, according to data from the state-run Korea Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service that was submitted to People Power Party Rep. Kim Wi-sang.

Despite the deaths, the logistics firms are ramping up services, increasing anxiety among delivery people. CJ Logistics began delivery service seven days a week this year.

The author of the parliamentary petition, who claimed to be a delivery service worker, wrote that the “lives and health of delivery people should be protected for the sustainable development of the Korean logistics industry.” The petition writer asked parliament to take action and prepare practical solutions to prevent further sacrifices of delivery people, noting that they only get to rest a single day off each week.

The petitioner also wrote that CJ Logistics did not hire additional delivery people for their seven-day service, adding that the expansion of such service across the industry, including by Hanjin Logistics and Lotte Global Logistics, would further reduce days off for delivery people — to a single day off every two to three weeks. The petitioner also noted that major clients such as e-commerce giants or shopping platforms are “forcing them to deliver packages on weekends.”

The parliamentary Environment and Labor Committee is due to review the case with more than 50,000 endorsements and decide whether to refer it to a plenary session or dismiss it. If the petition is passed in a plenary session, the government should report how it handled the case.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]