Samsung apologises to victims for work-illnesses at facilities

Samsung Electronics President and CEO Kim Ki-nam, who heads the tech giant’s crucial device solution division, expressed deep regrets on behalf of the company to the victims, claiming that Samsung will make every effort to comply with the compensation plan prepared by the mediation committee.

“Beloved colleagues and families have suffered for a long time, but Samsung Electronics failed to take care of the matter earlier,” Kim said. “We lacked being considerate of such pains and promptly settled the issue.

“Samsung Electronics also did not fully and completely manage potential health risks at our chip and liquid-crystal display production lines. Today, we wish to express a sincere apology to the workers who suffered from diseases, as well as their families,” Kim added. The standoff involving the South Korean tech giant surfaced when Hwang Yu-mi, who worked on a Samsung chip production line, died of leukemia in 2007.

Victims have been claiming that Samsung should provide compensation, apologise and come up with measures to prevent further outbreaks, Yonhap news agency reported.

The world’s top chipmaker and the Supporters for the Health and Rights of People in the Semiconductor Industry (SHARPS), a group of victims, agreed to accept any decision made by a mediation committee in July, unconditionally.

Earlier this month, the mediation committee announced the settlement that included compensation of up to 150 million won ($132,000) per illness.