Samsung, LG relieved after gov't ruling

By Kim Yoo-chul

The trade ministry allowed key technology affiliates at Samsung and LG Electronics not to release the details of their fabrication facilities after the government agency found workplace assessment reports submitted by Samsung included “national core industrial technologies.”

Samsung Electronics and its display affiliate Samsung Display welcomed the decision, calling the judgment by the trade ministry's review committee a “plus factor” to keep Korea's leadership alive both in the memory chip and display segments.

“Once we release full workplace assessment reports as previously ordered, that will hugely impact the global semiconductor industry, in turn dealing a significant blow to the Korean economy. It's highly likely that rival foreign companies could easily obtain those latest and premium technologies through the reports,” an official at Samsung Electronics said Wednesday.

Samsung Display spokesman Kim Ho-jeong said his company expected a great economic blow to the nation as the company had been ordered to release workplace assessment reports for its latest display plant applied with a cutting-edge eighth-generation display technology in Tangjeong, south of Seoul.

“The full openings may cause a substantial change in the national market share of the display industry, which is truly negative given Korea's decades-long leadership in the sector,” said the spokesman, adding Samsung Display still has its eye on the trade ministry.

Kang Kyeong-sung, director at the trade ministry's materials and components policy bureau, told reporters the decision was mostly due to the sensitivity of the reports as they included Samsung's in-house manufacturing technologies.

“Eleven out of 15 judges on the review committee agreed the submitted Samsung factory reports need to be protected from public scrutiny to protect industrial secrets. Among them are detailed processes in manufacturing both DRAM and NAND chips, the names of chemical products being used in those facilities and the monthly usage. These are parts of national core technologies,” the government official said.

“What the ministry is worrying about is China is providing huge subsidies to its domestic companies to catch up with rival countries in the booming semiconductor industry. Specifically, China plans to invest as much as 210 trillion won only in the business segment, with the country scouting seasoned experts who worked at Samsung or SK hynix plants. Disclosing the reports, therefore, is against the national interest,” the official told reporters in a media briefing held at the government complex in Sejong City.

Late Tuesday, the ministry's review committee decided Samsung Electronics should not disclose reports of working conditions at its key semiconductor plants in Giheung, Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek.

Under the “information disclosure policy,” the trade ministry must get a view of Samsung when it receives a petition from an applicant demanding the company release the information.

Still, the employment ministry is insisting the reports including the safety and health information of factory workers should be widely accessible to the public in order to help workers prove their occupational diseases associated with various industrial accidents.

LG Display, the chief cross-town rival with Samsung Display in the display industry, also welcomed the ministry's decision.