It was belatedly confirmed that Samsung Electronics was sent to the prosecution last month in connection with the allegation that it fabricated emission figures for fine dust-causing substances.
Samsung Electronics was not included when the government unveiled a list of six companies and measurement agencies that manipulated fine dust levels such as LG Chem and Hanwha Chemical last month.
According to the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee on May 12, Samsung Electronics' Gwangju workplace was sent to the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office last month over allegations of fine dust emission manipulation.
The Ministry of Environment and the Yeongsan River Environment Agency, which was under investigation by the prosecution, are known to have determined that there is a problem with the method of measuring air pollutants at Samsung Electronics' Gwangju business site.
The ministry announced on April 17 that it has detected four measurement agencies that manipulated the emissions of dust and sulfur oxides, the source of fine dust, and 235 businesses that have requested the four agencies to measure it.
It has not been confirmed whether Samsung Electronics' Gwangju workplace directly ordered its measurement agency to manipulate the data. "Samsung Electronics has never asked an agency that measures pollutants to modify or change numbers," said a Samsung Electronics official to the daily newspaper Hankyoreh on May 12.
