Extract from an article of the Huffingtonpost.
In recent years, Samsung Corporation has faced a number of disturbing accusations about the health of some of its South Korean employees, the country where the company's headquarters are located. Former workers and their families, as well as trade unionists, reported that the working conditions in its semiconductor plants had led to an increase in diseases such as leukemia and other types of cancer in some employees.
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Samsung had initially denied that such a link existed but the South Korean courts had ruled in several cases that these workers were indeed victims of an industrial accident. The technology giant finally asked the workers and their families for forgiveness last May, and promised to compensate them.
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The Hankyoreh met Gunoo's family a second time on 3 November in Onyang, Ulsang County, after a contact on 12 August. The climate is much colder and several weather warnings have been broadcast on the country's channels. The season that saw Gunoo fight for his survival in the first months of his existence is back.
« Born on 14 April 1999 at 9.06 a.m. It weighs 3.2 kg », had written Hee « He arrived after four hours of contractions. I'm fascinated. I pray that he is not sick and that he will grow up normally. »
The only wish expressed by this young mother was in vain. Gunoo did not make meconium – the first stools of a newborn – before 3 days, an indication of the poor health of a baby. His stomach began to grow bigger and he developed high fevers. He then spent a month in pediatrics, intensive care. The hospital decided to open her abdomen, explaining that her large intestine was tangled like a woolly ball. A week later, the hospital made another 20 centimeters incision.
In November of that year, at the age of eight months, Gunoo underwent two major operations and was transported to Seoul National University Hospital, his frail little body connected to a faecal pocket. The hospital reopened his abdomen to remove the rest of his large intestine.
« I gave him the breast until the seventh month but he was throwing up everything, even when I was mixing his medicine with the formula... When they took off the big intestine, he did it in his panties until he was seven. I can't even find the words to talk about that time. »
The Seoul National University Hospital followed Gunoo until she was 13, because « total removal of the large intestine [did not] ever occur » throughout the history of this establishment. In December 2013, the last day of the long journey between Onyang and Seoul, the on-call doctor told Gunoo: « Thank your mother for everything she's been through. ». This remark triggered a torrent of tears at Hee-eun. « It's my fault Gunoo's like this. », she whispers.
Hee-eun worked at Samsung Electronic's factory in Onyang from 1991 to 1998. Her father was proud of her when she got this semiconductor manufacturing position. Fifteen workers lived in an 80 m2 dormitory and worked for 12 hours, with two teams alternating. In 1993, the pace slowed slightly, with the establishment of a third team, and a fourth team a few years later.
