Samsung investigates cancer claims

KOREAN MANUFACTURER Samsung has been obliged to investigate reports of potentially cancerous materials or leaks of ionizing radiation in its manufacturing process.

According to Reuters, it seems some Samsung employees might have been exposed to hazardous materials at a chip manufacturing plant. This exposure allegedly caused cancer in some of the staff.

Reuter's reports that between 1998 and 2010 22 Samsung employees were diagnosed with various forms of cancer and ten had died.

Samsung had been under increasing pressure from Korean social rights groups to launch the probe. But the employees chose to pursue the Korean government for compensation rather than Samsung itself.

The government's initial investigation said Samsung's chip manufacturing process wasn't accountable for the diseases. However Samsung has responded to public pressure by launching an independent safety probe.

"We are deeply sorry about the loss of loved ones... and we've actively cooperated on epidemiologic investigations, which concluded there were no leaks of radiation," Cho Soo-in, president of Samsung's memory division, told journalists at the chip plant.

"We will do our best to improve the working environment and better communicate from now on," he said. µ