SEOUL
\nSamsung apologised Friday to workers who developed cancer after working at some of its factories, finally ending a decade-long dispute at the world\u2019s top chipmaker.
\nThe father of a dead 22-year-old worker and the company\u2019s co-president Kim Ki-Nam signed a formal settlement agreement in Seoul as other disabled ex-employees looked on.
\n\u201cWe sincerely apologise to the workers who suffered from illness and their families,\u201d said the firm\u2019s co-president Kim Ki-Nam. \u201cWe have failed to properly manage health risks at our semiconductor and LCD factories.\u201d
\nSamsung is the world\u2019s biggest mobile phone manufacturer and chipmaker and the flagship subsidiary of the Samsung Group, by far the biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate the South\u2019s economy.
\nSamsung currently operates vast semiconductor production compounds in Suwon as well as the cities of Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, as well as Xian in China.
\nCampaign groups say that about 240 people have suffered from work-related illnesses after being employed at Samsung semiconductor and display factories, with around 80 of them \u2014 many of them young women \u2014 dying.
\nUnder a deal announced earlier this month, Samsung will pay the group\u2019s employees compensation of up to 150 million won ($133,000) per case.
\nIt covers 16 types of cancer, some other rare illnesses, miscarriages and congenital diseases suffered by the workers\u2019 children. Claimants can have worked at plants as far back as 1984.
\nThe scandal emerged in 2007 when former workers at its semiconductor and display factories in Suwon, south of Seoul, and their families said that staff had been diagnosed or died of various forms of cancer.
\nA series of rulings and decisions by courts, Seoul\u2019s state labour welfare agency and a mediation committee followed over more than 10 years, culminating in Friday\u2019s announcement.
\nHwang Sang-ki, who signed the agreement on behalf of the workers and their families, told reporters he was glad to have fulfilled his promise to his daughter, who died of leukemia in 2007, to prove Samsung was to blame for her death.
\nBut he went on: \u201cThe apology honestly was not enough for the families of the victims but we will accept it. \u201cNo amount of apology will be enough to heal all the insults, the pain of industrial injuries and the suffering of losing one\u2019s family.
\n\u201cI cannot forget the pain she and our family went through. Too many people have suffered the same fate.\u201d Little is known about possible connections between the production process in the factories and the workers\u2019 illnesses, as Samsung has refused to disclose what specific chemical substances it uses, describing the information as a trade secret.
\nHwang and other relatives have sought a court order to compel it to release the details.
\n\u201cCompensation for industrial injury is important, but what\u2019s more important is prevention,\u201d said Hwang, whose story was made into a movie in 2013.
\nSamsung has played a key part in the South\u2019s rise to become the world\u2019s 11th-largest economy, but it is also the focus of resentment over the power and influence of the chaebols and has faced accusations of murky political connections.
\nIts de facto leader Lee Jae-Yong was found guilty of bribing former president Park Geun-Hye as part of the corruption scandal that brought her down, and he spent almost a year in prison before most of his convictions were overturned on appeal and he was released.
\nThe cancer scandal is one of the worst instances of industrial injuries in the South, where safety standards sometimes belie its advanced technological status.
\nTwo months ago, two subcontractors were killed in a carbon dioxide leak at Samsung Electronics\u2019 Suwon chip plant.
\nIn January, four workers suffocated due to a gas leak at a steel factory owned by Posco \u2014 the country\u2019s top steelmaker \u2014 in the southern city of Pohang.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SEOUL Samsung apologised Friday to workers who developed cancer after working at some of its factories, finally ending a decade-long dispute at the world\u2019s top chipmaker. The father of a dead 22-year-old worker and the company\u2019s co-president Kim Ki-Nam signed a formal settlement agreement in Seoul as other disabled ex-employees looked on. \u201cWe sincerely apologise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-36862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n