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The Lawyers for Democratic Society and a labor rights group of Samsung Electronics have written to the United Nations about occupational diseases among the company's employees.
The organizations told a press conference in front of Samsung Group headquarters in southern Seoul on Wednesday that the move was designed to pressure Samsung and the Korean Government to take responsibility for occupational diseases and the damage they caused to victims and their families.
"The occurrence of occupational diseases and their consequences are clear violations of labor rights, and the UN must be made aware of this development," said a spokesperson for the protesting groups.
There are numerous avenues of complaints and petitions that protesters can file with the UN, but the Korean groups chose to put their allegations in a letter.
The letter alleges Samsung has been withholding the results of tests and evaluations in suspected cases of occupational diseases.
It says Ministry of Employment and Labor have failed to stop workers being exposed to harmful chemicals and other hazardous substances, and that tougher initiatives are needed to protect workers' rights.