A mediation panel provided recommendations recently that were difficult for victims of industrial diseases at Samsung Electronics plants to accept. The main stumbling block in the panel’s recommendation is the call for an establishment of a 100-billion-win public foundation for victims that also include a call for compensation for all diseases inflicted.

Under the current recommendation, Samsung would be forced to pay victims despite there being no concrete evidence their health problems were related to their work with the semiconductor or display facilities. Workers have reported up to 12 different kinds of incurable diseases they believe are directly related to their work at the Samsung Electronics factory.

The government could potentially issue industrial-disease status to workers who submit evidence that their sickness is work-related. Should they be granted that status Samsung would only need to pay insurance cost. A court ruling recently stated that only a few former works who had developed leukemia were victims of industrial disease and the court had earlier refused to accept similar cases from workers at local manufacturing companies because of a lack of evidence.

The committee is asking that Samsung compensate all workers who have developed any one of the dozen diseases in question, but some argue not all of the diseases have links to working conditions. Samsung officials and supporters also argue that workers might not have developed the diseases based on working conditions alone. They believe any decision that would hold Samsung indiscriminately responsible for the diseases is bad for business and could produce long-term, negative consequences.