Samsung's fine for failure to report fatal gas leak? $923

Samsung's failure to report a gas leak that took the life of one worker and injured four others has resulted in a fine of only $923.

YonHap reported that Samsung will be fined no more than 1 million won ($923) after over 2 gallons of acid--in gaseous form--leaked from a 132-gallon tank of hydrofluoric acid twice in 24 hours, one leak apparently at 11 p.m. local time, and then again at 5 a.m.

The incident, which took place earlier at a semiconductor plant in Hwaseong, South Korea, was apparently not reported until hours afterwards, by which time one worker from Samsung's subcontracted maintenance firm STI Service had been fatally injured through prolonged exposure and four other employees were hospitalized.

According to the publication, the Korean police is fining the smartphone and tablet maker for violating the Toxic Chemicals Control Act by not reporting the gas leak immediately. An official investigation has begun, and one official is reported as saying:

We will thoroughly investigate to clarify who is responsible for the incident as someone died due to poor administration.

The exposure of the incident to the media may not be the only problem on Samsung's table. An officer looking into the case apparently said that Samsung has not submitted data requested by the police, and so an office raid to acquire the tech giant's safety logs has not been ruled out.

It may take up to two weeks for the investigation to be concluded.

Following the gas leak, Jeon Dong Su, a co-president of Samsung, publicly apologized for the incident and offered his sympathy for the families of those involved. He also promised that Samsung would conduct a full investigation and ensure that permanent measures were put in place to prevent a repeat problem.