[Unofficial translation provided by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

“Another Coupang night-shift worker dies in Gwangju just five days after previous fatality,” 26 November 2025

A man in his 50s working a night shift at a Coupang logistics centre died after collapsing during work on 26 November. The incident comes just five days after a similar fatality involving a contract worker at Coupang’s logistics centre in Hwaseong.

According to the Gwangju Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, the man collapsed around 2 a.m. at Coupang’s Logistics Centre 5 in Gwangju and was taken to hospital but ultimately died. The man, identified only as Mr A, was working under a fixed-term contract and had been scheduled to work from 6 p.m. the previous day until 4 a.m. He was performing order-picking tasks, which involve placing items in carts for delivery.

A detective from Gwangju Police stated, “Although many media reports have said he had an underlying health condition, the bereaved family confirmed that he did not have any serious illness, only gout.” (…)

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Coupang Fulfilment Services (CFS) stated that the deceased joined the company as a fixed-term worker in March and, over the past three months, had worked an average of 4.8 days and 41 hours per week. CFS said, “We offer our deepest condolences and will do our utmost to support the bereaved family,” adding, “As the cause of death will be confirmed through an autopsy and investigation by the authorities, we ask that speculation be avoided.”

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This incident has caused further shock in the context of recent successive deaths among Coupang workers. On 21 November, Mr B, a contract worker in his 30s, collapsed and died while working a night shift at the Dongtan 1 Centre in Hwaseong. On 10 November, a Coupang courier working six days a week in Jeju died in a traffic accident during a dawn delivery round.