An advocacy group representing the victims who became ill or died while working at Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday the company should make its compensation procedures more transparent and express a sincere apology.

"Samsung's compensation policies are undisclosed and unilateral," said Lim Ja-woon, a lawyer who works for the Protector of Health and Human Rights of Semiconductor Workers. "Samsung should come to the negotiating table about compensation and apologies."

The demand came a day after Samsung agreed to take measures to prevent the recurrence of leukemia at its facilities, taking a step closer toward resolving an eight-year-old dispute.

Samsung and victims' groups have yet to reach a final agreement on compensation and apologies, which have been at the heart of the prolonged debate.

Samsung, the world's leading maker of memory chips, smartphones and TVs, has been compensating the victims since September, with the number of recipients reaching 100 as of end-2015.

The advocacy group, however, said Samsung forced applicants to withhold the terms of the agreement from the public, adding they were given compensation well below their medical expenditures.

"The victims were not even allowed to photocopy the contract, nor take a picture," Lim said. "Samsung put a damper on the victims."

Concerning the allegations, Samsung said the compensation terms are based on an agreement between the arbitration committee of the company and the victims. The disclosure of the contract papers were limited due to privacy reasons, it added.

The group, locally called as Banolim, claims that more than 200 employees at its chip and display production lines are suffering from work-related diseases, with the death toll reaching 76 as of this month. The figure has not been officially verified, although Banolim said the actual numbers are higher.

Samsung said such numbers are exaggerated, adding that it includes symptoms that are not as serious as cancer or leukemia.

"Samsung's compensation policies are inconsistent," Hwang Sang-ki said, adding that Samsung is only misleading the public with the number. "Some victims are refusing Samsung's offer as it does not cover their medical expenses."

Hwang is the father of Yu-mi, a former employee at Samsung's chipmaking facility south of Seoul, who died of leukemia in 2007.

Her death sparked a prolonged debate over the responsibilities of Samsung Electronics related to the workers who got cancers or leukemia.

Banolim also said Samsung Electronics lacks sincerity in its apology, as it does not admit its responsibility. Samsung currently declines to confirm that its working environment is directly linked to the outbreak of such diseases.

"It is scientifically complicated to confirm such correlations. Our stance is to compensate the patients regardless of such links,"

an official from Samsung Electronics said. (Yonhap)