[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] It has been confirmed that LG Chem filed a complaint with the prosecution last month against SK Innovation on charges including personnel poaching and trade secret infringement related to the manufacturing of large secondary batteries (batteries for electric vehicles).
According to the prosecution and industry sources on the 14th, LG Chem filed a complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office last month against SK Innovation for violations of the Act on the Prevention and Protection of Industrial Technology Leakage (Industrial Technology Protection Act) and the Act on the Prevention of Unfair Competition and Trade Secrets (Unfair Competition Prevention Act), among others.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office assigned this complaint to the 12th Criminal Division (Chief Prosecutor Park Hyun-jun), which is in charge of trade secret leakage and information and communication crimes, and has begun reviewing the case. LG Chem stated, "It is a kind of opinion letter requesting a prompt fact-finding since it has been over a year since the complaint was filed with the police," and added, "Since there is no way to present opinions to the prosecution regarding the police investigation, we took the form of a complaint."
Accordingly, SK Innovation will undergo investigations by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the police, and the prosecution.
In May of last year, LG Chem filed a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency against SK Innovation for violations of the Industrial Technology Protection Act and other laws. The International Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency took charge of the case and began a forced investigation in September of the same year by conducting raids and seizures at SK Innovation’s Seoul headquarters and its research center and factory in Seosan, Chungnam.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
