Starting next year, Samsung Corning Precision Materials will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Corning following a recent decision by Samsung Display to sell back its entire 42.6 percent stake to the U.S. firm.

With the move, not only will Samsung Corning become a part of Corning, but the employees will no longer belong to the Samsung brand.

Meanwhile, Samsung SNS ― formerly Seoul Technology and Communication ― is cementing its position as a firm part of the Samsung empire, mainly thanks to support from Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jay-yong, who will one day inherit the business from his father Lee Kun-hee.

Lee holds an almost 46 percent stake in Samsung SNS, which records annual sales of around 500 billion won ($470.9 million) from network and related solutions. The name change to Samsung SNS ― short for Samsung Network Services and Solutions ― happened last year and offered workers a chance to officially work for the Samsung brand.

Throwing further weight behind Samsung SNS, Samsung this year merged the affiliate with Samsung SDS, its system integration subsidiary.

“The fate of the workers at the two affiliates Samsung Corning and Samsung SNS will be in huge contrast, and it seems everyone is struggling to accept what’s coming to them,” said one Samsung employee.

At Samsung Corning, reflecting just how much of an impact the split from Samsung will have, an emergency committee was formed as of this month to cope with job security and other issues.

The committee had demanded some 300 million won to 500 million won per individual ― there are 4,000 employees working for Samsung Corning ― for having to lose the Samsung premium.

Samsung, on the other hand, had offered 40 million won plus 800 percent of the basic wages per employee.

On Monday, they reached a final agreement on an one-off payment worth 40 million won and an additional 10 times the monthly base salary.

Another issue is worker relocation. Samsung has decided to accept demands by some Samsung Corning employees to move to other affiliates.

Up to 3,000 have so far signed up to work for Samsung Display, mainly due to the overlapping plant locations.

Kim Soon-gohn, a spokesperson for Samsung Corning, wouldn’t reveal the specific figures, saying: “They are allowed to pick five Samsung affiliates they prefer out of the total 26 and secrecy is guaranteed.” Applications will be accepted until Wednesday, he added.

Both Samsung Corning and Samsung Display have offices and plants in Cheonan and Asan, along with in other regions such as Samsung Corning’s Gumi plant.

Samsung Display spokesperson Cho Yong-woo also declined to further elaborate on the issue.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)