A special counsel team has raided a logistics subsidiary of e‑commerce giant Coupang over allegations of unpaid severance pay for employees.

According to legal sources on Tuesday, the team led by independent counsel Ahn Gweon‑seob sent prosecutors and investigators to the offices of Coupang Fulfillment Services in southern Seoul earlier in the day to secure documents related to severance payments.

Coupang is accused of revising its employment rules in May 2023 in a way that disadvantaged workers, allegedly resulting in the nonpayment of money equivalent to severance pay.

The special counsel reportedly listed Coupang as a suspect in its search warrant on charges of violating the Act on the Guarantee of Employees’ Retirement Benefits.

The case was initially forwarded to prosecutors in January by the Bucheon branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor with a recommendation for indictment. However, the Bucheon branch of the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office decided in April not to indict the company.

Moon Ji‑seok, the prosecutor who handled the case at the time, later testified during a National Assembly audit in October that the head of the Bucheon Prosecutors’ Office and a senior prosecutor pressured him to drop the charges.