Court accepts Samsung's request to block disclosure of workplace assessment reports

SUWON, South Korea, April 19 (Yonhap) -- A regional court on Thursday accepted a request by Samsung Electronics Co. to temporarily suspend a government disclosure of assessment reports on the company's memory chip and smartphone production lines. The Suwon District Court approved the request filed by the South Korean tech giant seeking a suspension of execution on the labor ministry's planned public release of workplace reports on its three chip factories in Gyeonggi Province. The Ministry of Employment and Labor decided last month to disclose the information after a local TV producer filed a request for its release. The assessment reports apparently contain results on workers' exposure to some 190 harmful chemical substances within the workplaces. The company is required to submit the reports to the district ministry branch every six months. The legal battle between the government and Samsung began after a Samsung Display Co. worker, who suffers from lymphatic cancer, demanded the reports be revealed so that the information can be used as part of an industrial accident claim to the government. elly@yna.co.kr (END)