SEOUL – Coupang, South Korea’s e-commerce giant currently under special prosecutor investigation for allegedly withholding severance pay from daily laborers, has been found to have committed 99 violations of the Labor Standards Act in 2025.
According to data submitted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor to Representative An Ho-young of the Democratic Party of Korea on the 29th, the majority of these violations were related to wage and severance pay issues.
Dominance of "Wage Arrears" Cases
Out of the 99 recorded violations across all Coupang affiliates this year, 82 cases (82.8%) were classified under "Settlement of Payments," which involves the failure to pay wages and severance benefits within the legally required timeframe.
The breakdown by affiliate shows that Coupang Logistics Service (CLS), the delivery arm, accounted for the highest number of violations with 62 cases. Coupang Fulfillment Service (CFS) followed with 29 cases, while the headquarters recorded 8 cases.
Vast Disparity with Industry Peers
The data reveals a stark contrast between Coupang and its competitors. Over the last five years (2021–2025), Coupang and its subsidiaries have accumulated a total of 311 labor law violations. In comparison, during the same period:
CJ Logistics: 12 cases
Lotte Global Logistics: 9 cases
Hanjin: 4 cases
Even Coupang’s delivery subsidiary, CLS, recorded 159 violations alone—over 13 times the number of its largest competitor, CJ Logistics.
Escalating Legal Pressure
Coupang CFS is currently suspected of amending its employment rules in May 2023 to unfairly disqualify daily workers from receiving severance pay. The special prosecution team recently conducted search and seizure operations at Coupang headquarters, CFS offices, and the residence of former CFS CEO Eom Sung-hwan to secure evidence.
Representative An Ho-young criticized the company’s recurring issues despite previous government audits. "The fact that Coupang’s violations are overwhelmingly higher than other logistics giants proves that their repeated promises to improve the labor environment have been hollow," An said. He urged the company to expedite the settlement of unpaid wages.
Meanwhile, this report comes just a day after Coupang Chairman Bom Kim issued a written apology on the 28th regarding a major personal data leak that occurred a month ago.
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