Samsung apologizes to sickened chip workers [View all]

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By YOUKYUNG LEE

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics Co. apologized and promised compensation to chip factory workers who suffered cancers linked to chemical exposure, a rare win for families and activists seven years after the death of a 23-year-old employee from leukemia galvanized a movement to hold the company to account.

Samsung said the apology does not mean it concedes a link between the chemicals used in its chip factories and cancer and other diseases. Still, the company's statement Wednesday that it should have sought a solution sooner is an abrupt shift in Samsung's stance and a form of vindication for workers and their families.

Samsung vice chairman Kwon Oh-hyun said the company, the world's largest maker of smartphones and memory chips, will compensate workers and their families.

"We feel regret that a solution for this delicate matter has not been found in a timely manner, and we would like to use this opportunity to express our sincerest apology to the affected people," Kwon, who oversees Samsung's semiconductor and display panel businesses, said in an emailed statement. Local news channels showed Kwon reading the statement before reporters.

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Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140514/skorea-samsung-workplace_safety-efe7047003.html

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In this photo released by Samsung Electronics Co., Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kwon Oh-hyun speaks during a briefing in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 14, 2014. Samsung Electronics Co. apologized and promised compensation to chip factory workers who suffered cancers linked to chemical exposure, a rare win for families and activists seven years after the death of a 23-year-old employee from leukemia galvanized a movement to hold the company to account. (AP Photo/Samsung Electronics Co.)