By Kim Yoo-chul
The country's trade ministry said it will hold another round of discussions on the appropriateness of disclosing the workplace environment at Samsung's chip fabrication plants.
“The review committee of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy reviewed workplace assessment reports at Samsung's chip plants in Asan, Giheung, Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong whether the reports include trade and operational secrets that need to be protected as they are the country's core technologies. But no decisions have been made as the committee needs more time,” the trade ministry said in a statement, Monday.
“The committee didn't find whether the reports include details of memory chip-making technologies being used to fabricate them below a finer 30-nanometer level,” said one judge involved in the discussions.
Korea classified chips with below 30-nanometer level technology as a category of national technology that should be protected as the leakage of this technology could result in losses for the country's economy.
Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest memory chip producer, was ordered to release the specifics of its workplace environment such as the amount of chemical materials being used at these target plants. Later, Samsung refused to accept the requests.
Any decisions by the review committee are legally non-binding but may influence officials in the labor and justice ministries when they come to decisions on similar issues, said watchers.
In a related note, Samsung filed separate lawsuits, one with the Central Administrative Appeals Commission and another with local courts as follow-up measures.
Right after the decision by the review committee, the central appeals commission also delayed its decision whether to order Samsung Display, the display affiliate of Samsung Electronics, to release the specific details of its display facilities in Tangjeong, south of Seoul. Samsung Display said it can't disclose its key fact sheets as the reports have its latest tech roadmap and relevant details.
“We will notify Samsung once the decision day is decided,” the appeals commission said in a statement.