By Bae Ji-sook Staff Reporter Civic groups as well as residents of Taean in South Chungcheong Province, where a large oil spill struck beaches and polluted natural marine habitats, urged Samsung and Hyundai to apologize and work out measures to help compensate and prevent future environmental disasters. Green Consumer Network in Korea, Green Korea United and about 50 other civic groups protested in front of Samsung headquarters Thursday. They called for an apology, compensation and other preventative measures it would take as Samsung's vessel was the one that caused the collision in seas off Taean earlier this month. They claimed that both Samsung and Hyundai Oil Bank, the owner of the oil in the tanker, are to blame but since the Samsung ship struck the other, Samsung should be the one to take responsibility. There were reportedly some 1,000 company workers from Samsung clearing the slick off beaches, but the group has remained silent. The case infuriated people when the engineers and sailors of the Samsung's ship reportedly doctored the logbook to cover the mistakes that led to the accident. ``The group tried to divert our attention by arguing over whose fault the accident was. Now that the case is being investigated, they are trying to gloss it over with silence,'' a Green Korea United spokesman said. The groups called for naming the incident the ``Samsung Spill'' and asked the company to pay all clean up costs as well as compensate residents for their losses. The residents in the area make their living through the fish and shellfish they either catch or farm in the sea and have reportedly made no money since the day of the accident. In Taean, more than 600,000 volunteered to clean up the slick. Though it seems the visible slicks have almost been cleared, the emulsifier used will cause secondary pollution. Lee Wan-seop, resident of Euiahng 3-Ri in the region, said in an interview with the Daejeon Ilbo newspaper, ``while we are dying because of the accident, they have neglected to pay attention to our lives or the pain that they have caused.'' He added that he is very close to ``exploding'' with anger. Other people also vowed to take collective action once the clean up is completed. The residents of Mallipo Beach made a public statement asking for the group to show future safety measures and compensation plans for them. Samsung Heavy Industries said at this stage, they are putting in 100 percent in the recovery of the oil spill and compensation and other things will come later. ``We are planning to set up large preventative measures after the police investigation is wrapped up,'' the company's spokesman Kim Yun-bae said. bjs@koreatimes.co.kr