Samsung Electronics Co. has turned to the industry ministry to stop the labor ministry from sharing its findings on regular inspections on display and chip-making sites with outsiders, in fear of leakage risks of the country’s most prized technologies.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on Monday the industrial technology protection committee, which is chaired by the trade minister, would review the petition.

The Korean law demands state protection on core technologies with high technical or economic value or high industrial potential if their leakage is deemed to seriously damage national security or economic interests.

The world’s largest chipmaker has taken court procedures against the Ministry of Employment and Labor to stop it from disclosing the findings on industrial workplace evaluation. The move was triggered after the higher court ruled in favor of the appealing family member of a worker who died of leukemia after years of service at a cleanroom in one of Samsung fabs. The technology giant has won a temporary injunction to the disclosure.

Samsung Electronics argues disclosure of the routine inspections across the chip and display manufacturing lines could raise serious concerns for its intellectual property rights. The company is unrivalled in chipmaking in both volatile and nonvolatile segments because of its cutting-edge technologies. Wafer fabrication that involves hundreds of processes and technologies can differ in the type of equipments, chemical mix, and processing designs of the foundry.

The trade ministry plans to embark on the review as soon as possible considering the chipmaking giant’s colossal presence in the local economy. Samsung Electronics said it expects to submit the committee’s results as evidence at pending trials.

Shares of Samsung Electronics closed Monday up 1.65 percent at 2,460,000 won ($2,300).

By Lee Jae-cheol and Kim Hyo-jin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]