The Supreme Prosecutors' Office will directly visit industrial sites to respond to crimes involving the leakage of national core technologies. This is to hear the voices of companies affected by technology leakage on-site and to establish an effective investigation system. As crimes involving the smuggling of core technologies of domestic conglomerates overseas have become a national issue, the prosecution is taking active measures.
The Supreme Prosecutors' Office will hold an on-site meeting related to technology leakage on the 11th at Hyundai Motor Group's Namyang Research Center in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. Eight prosecutors, including Heo Jeong, head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Scientific Investigation Department, and Ahn Dong-geon, head of the Information Technology Crime Investigation Department at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, will attend. The prosecutors will visit Hyundai Motor's research center to tour the industrial technology development site and directly listen to researchers' concerns about technology leakage.
This meeting was triggered by the visit of Saudi Arabia's Attorney General Saud Al-Mojeb to Hyundai Motor's Hyundai Motorstudio last year. Since then, it is known that a consensus has been formed between companies and the prosecution regarding the seriousness of damage caused by the overseas leakage of national core industrial technologies.
The prosecution is considering holding meetings with other domestic conglomerates starting with this meeting. Through this, they plan to discuss technology protection measures in cooperation with industrial sites and strengthen crime prevention and investigation systems. The prosecution also plans to conduct training for prosecutors specializing in technology leakage and related seminars to respond to technology leakage crimes.
A senior prosecution official said, "In technology leakage cases, by the time investigations begin after the technology has been leaked overseas, the scale of damage is often already significant," adding, "Because these crimes are carried out secretly like securities crimes, investigations must also be conducted discreetly and swiftly. For this, it is important to listen to the voices from industrial sites." In fact, Choi Jin-seok, a former Samsung Electronics executive who established a semiconductor manufacturing company in China with an investment of 400 billion won from a Chinese local government in 2020 and smuggled core semiconductor technology worth 4 trillion won to China, was caught and brought to trial this year after four years.
As the overseas leakage of core industrial technologies spreads into national damage, the prosecution has recently been strengthening its capabilities to respond to technology leakage crimes. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office is jointly responding with the United States to technology leakage cases, conducting comparative studies and benchmarking research on technology protection-related legislation between Korea and the U.S. In addition, in September 2022, the 'Technology Leakage Crime Investigation Support Center' was relocated to the Cyber Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Scientific Investigation Department, reorganizing the investigation system. The center collects information on technology leakage crimes in cooperation with related agencies and delivers investigative leads to the investigation department. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office has expanded investigative personnel to 68 dedicated prosecutors and 91 dedicated investigators across 47 prosecution offices nationwide.
Sentencing for the overseas leakage of national core technologies has also been strengthened. In March, the Supreme Court Sentencing Commission raised the sentencing guidelines to recommend a maximum imprisonment of 18 years for crimes involving the overseas leakage of national core technologies. Previously, the prosecution had established sentencing standards for technology leakage crimes and submitted them to the Supreme Court Sentencing Commission.
In the long term, there are opinions that an investigative department should be formed to consolidate the expertise of related agencies, similar to the Joint Investigation Department for Financial and Securities Crimes. A senior prosecution official who requested anonymity stated, "In technology leakage cases, if abnormal signs are detected, a joint investigation system should be established to enable swift cooperation among government agencies."
Crimes involving the overseas export of national core technologies lead to national losses. According to data submitted by the National Police Agency to the National Assembly, the damage caused by technology leakage over six years from 2018 to last year amounts to approximately 25 trillion won. Of this, 65% of the leaked technology went to China. According to data submitted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to the National Assembly, from 2016 to last year, 49 cases of national core technologies and 165 cases of industrial technologies, including these, were detected as having been leaked overseas over eight years.
Lim Hyun-kyung, Legal Times Reporter
※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.
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