Samsung appoints Supreme Court justice for cancer talk mediation

Samsung Electronics has appointed a former South Korean Supreme Court justice to oversee talks with the families of six employees who developed cancer while working in its factories.

In the latest instalment of a long-running saga, The Korea Times reports Samsung has accepted a recommendation by the families to have former justice Ji-hyung Kim head a three-member mediation committee.

Unfortunately for Samsung, the talks will not include a victims rights group who protested outside its headquarters in August, known as ‘the Banolim’ or ‘SHARP’, which claims to represent the families of up to 98 cancer victims.

The Banolim is pushing for Samsung to disclose the chemicals it has used at its production plants and widen the scope of compensation to the families of hundreds of past and present employees, demands the tech giant rejects.

The latest talks come after the Seoul High Court upheld a 2011 ruling in late August stating that Samsung is responsible for the deaths of two of its semiconductor plant employees from acute myeloid leukaemia in 2006 and 2007.

The news comes just days after Samsung confirmed its quarterly profits fell by 59.65% to $4.35 billion year-on-year, despite an increase in its smartphone shipments.