Prosecution Indicts Former Manager and Others for Leaking Over 10,000 Samsung Electronics Semiconductor Technology Cases

Leaked 'Technical Data' Development Cost Totaling 73.6 Billion KRW

Former Samsung Electronics manager and others who smuggled Samsung Electronics' semiconductor technology and engineers to China have been brought to trial.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Information Technology Crime Investigation Division (Chief Prosecutor Lee Chun) announced on the 25th that five people, including former Samsung Electronics technology team manager Kim (56), were indicted on charges of violating the Act on the Prevention and Protection of Industrial Technology Leakage.

According to the prosecution, from February to September 2022, Kim secretly transferred semiconductor deposition equipment design technology data of Samsung Electronics, where he was employed at the time, to a separate server and promised salaries and stock distribution while moving three employees to Corporation A, which he established in China.

Those who moved to Corporation A were also found to have smuggled out core technology data used in the production of ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) equipment, a key device in semiconductor DRAM manufacturing, while working at Samsung Electronics.

The prosecution explained that it would take more than three years to develop and manufacture ALD equipment using proprietary technology, but they started manufacturing the equipment within four months based on the stolen design drawings. The prosecution identified that the number of Samsung Electronics' technical data leaked and stored by them exceeded 10,000 cases. The development cost of the leaked technical data identified by the prosecution totaled 73.6 billion KRW.

The prosecution also reported that the Chinese representative of Corporation A was booked but has been staying in China and refusing to respond to summons for investigation.