Death benefit claims for delivery workers in H1 near 2024's full-year total
Bereaved families of express delivery service workers in South Korea filed 10 applications for government death benefits in the first half of 2025, just two cases short of the 12 submitted for the entire year of 2024, according to government data released Wednesday.
Of the 10 applications, seven have been approved so far, according to data from the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service obtained and released by the office of Rep. Kim Ui-sang of the People Power Party. Last year, nine of the 12 applications were approved.
Under Article 62 of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, families of workers whose deaths are attributed to occupational causes may apply for survivors' benefits.
Until now, no more than 14 applications for industrial accident-related death benefits have been filed per year between 2020 and 2024. This makes the first half of 2025 one of the deadliest periods in recent years for Korea's package delivery industry, commonly known as taekbae.
Of this year's 10 applications, three were related to deaths caused by work-related accidents, matching the total number filed in 2024. All three cases this year were approved, while two of the three applications were approved last year.
Six applications were filed for deaths resulting from "occupational diseases," of which three have been approved so far. Occupational disease refers to illnesses directly related to the nature of the job, which for delivery workers commonly involve musculoskeletal issues related to the muscles and skeleton.
The remaining application was related to a death that occurred while commuting.
Express package delivery service, known as "taekbae" in Korea, has become an essential part of daily life, driven by the widespread use of e-commerce. An October report by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry found that, on average, Koreans used express delivery services about 100 times per person in 2023.
But there have also been concerns about the health risks faced by delivery workers, many of whom are overworked. KWCWS data released in September showed that 69.7 percent of package delivery workers' deaths from 2020 to 2022 were due to overwork.
"We have to review the current system of industrial safety to see if it provides sufficient protection for those working in the field of e-commerce, from factors like extreme heat due to unusual weather and excessive workload," Rep. Kim said.
In terms of total industrial accidents in the express package delivery field in the first half of 2025, 757 applications for compensation were filed, and 680 were approved. This is not particularly high compared to 1,556 filed for 2024, with 1,424 approved.
But the number of applications for industrial accidents has skyrocketed from 326 in 2020.
By far the most common industrial accident for package delivery workers in the first half of the year was accidents; 595 of 627 applications were approved. A total of 86 applications for industrial accidents were filed, with musculoskeletal health issues accounting for 70.
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