A former Samsung executive has been found guilty of stealing and leaking critical semiconductor information to a Chinese company. Mr. Kim, the former Director General of Samsung Electronics faces seven years in prison. This is the harshest sentence ever handed down in a first trial for technology leak crimes in South Korea.
Court finds ex-Samsung executive guilty of leaking semiconductor technology
On Wednesday, February 19, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Mr. Kim to seven years in prison for leaking semiconductor process information and other core national technologies to a Chinese company. The court found him guilty of violating the Industrial Technology Protection Act and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.
The judge ruled that Kim had illegally acquired and disclosed Samsung’s 18nm DRAM process technology a Chinese semiconductor firm. “Such offenses seriously hinder healthy competition and the transaction order in related fields and have a significant negative impact on the national industrial competitiveness of South Korea,” the judge emphasized the serious impact of such tech thefts.
“Especially considering the expenses incurred by Samsung Electronics until the successful development and mass production of the 18nm DRAM products, it can be easily anticipated that the scale of the damage suffered by Samsung Electronics will reach an enormous amount,” the court added.
Prosecutors revealed that Kim provided the stolen semiconductor information to ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), China’s sole DRAM manufacturer. By unlawfully acquiring Samsung’s process data, CXMT was allegedly able to overcome technological barriers and advance its own semiconductor production. Authorities believe Kim joined CXMT in 2016 and received bribes worth hundreds of millions of won for the leak.
Additionally, he is accused of poaching around 20 Samsung employees by offering them lucrative salaries to join the Chinese company. Kim’s seven-year prison sentence sends a strong message that South Korea is committed to cracking down on corporate espionage.
