A former worker of a Samsung Electronics chipmaking plant has been recognized as an industrial accident victim for breast cancer, an advocacy group said Monday.

The state-run Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service granted the recognition to the 46-year-old who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, about nine years after leaving the Samsung factory in Bucheon, west of Seoul, according to the group.

The group has pushed to get the recognition on the ground that the former worker's frequent and long exposure to hazardous materials at the factory led to the illness.

The claim, however, had not been initially accepted on the possibility that the disease might have had to do with family history.

Medical experts said that there appears to be no family factor involved after conducting a DNA test. The advocacy group said that it applied again and received the recognition late last month. (Yonhap)