Samsung Electronics Subsidiary Technology Stolen to Manufacture 'Semiconductor Equipment' and Sent to China... Prosecution Arrests and Indicts 4 People

Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, Hadong, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon City. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] A group involved in stealing semiconductor technology developed by Semes, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, to manufacture 'supercritical cleaning equipment' and supply it to China has been brought to trial.

On the 16th, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Defense Industry and Industrial Technology Crime Division (Chief Prosecutor Lee Chun) announced that four people, including two former Semes researchers and two employees of a parts supplier, were arrested and indicted on charges of violating the 'Act on the Prevention of Unfair Competition and Protection of Trade Secrets.'

According to the prosecution, they are accused of producing the 'supercritical cleaning equipment' that Semes developed for the first time in the world in 2018 and exclusively supplied to Samsung Electronics, and transferring it to China.

Supercritical cleaning equipment is a facility that cleans semiconductor substrates using supercritical carbon dioxide, which is neither liquid nor gas, minimizing damage to the substrates and reducing the defect rate of ultra-fine semiconductors. Last year, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy designated it as a 'national core technology.'

Prosecutors' investigation revealed that former Semes employees contacted a research institute in China after their resignation in 2018, claiming they could replicate the supercritical cleaning equipment. Despite lacking production facilities, they received over 1.8 billion won and subsequently established a joint venture with China to actually manufacture and supply the supercritical cleaning equipment.

Prosecutors are particularly investigating the involvement of companies that are Semes' partners and second-tier suppliers to Samsung Electronics in this process.

They also plan to soon conclude the investigation into the mastermind who orchestrated the overall technology leak.

A prosecution official stated, "Since the investigation is still ongoing, we cannot disclose detailed information."