April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] A government-led task force comprising semiconductor experts will meet next week to review whether information on Samsung Electronics’ chip factories, included in an environmental assessment report, falls into the category of industrial secrets, according to an Industry Ministry official on April 11.

“The 12-member committee consisting of chip experts, researchers and professors will meet to discuss whether the report contains crucial chip information that should not be unveiled to the public,” Park Young-sam, an official from the ministry’s electronics and parts division, told The Investor. 

He added that it is hard to estimate how long it may take for the committee to announce its final decision.

“The disclosure should not be allowed as it will reveal know-hows the company has gained through trial and error in chip technology,” Kim Ki-nam, head of Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor division, had told reporters in a press conference earlier this month.

In a case concerning LG Display last year, the committee met four times before they approved the firm’s plan to establish an OLED manufacturing complex in Guangzhou. OLED is one of the nation’s 64 key technologies, which are banned from being disclosed or transferred to foreign companies and organizations.

The Ministry of Labor in February ordered Samsung to disclose the environmental report of its workplaces, including the chip manufacturing complexes in Giheung, Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek, after a district court’s ruling that the information should be made public to protect workers.

In 2014, a lower court ruled in favor of Samsung in a suit filed by former workers, who claimed to have contracted life-threatening diseases such as leukemia and cancer after working at its chip lines for years.

The tech giant has refused to disclose the documents on grounds that they contain critical company secrets, such as how the chips are made and what kind of chemicals are used. This could undermine Samsung’s edge, according to the tech firm.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)