"9 Out of 10 Cases of Industrial Technology and Trade Secret Leaks Affect Small and Medium Enterprises"

In the past five years, damages caused by the leakage of industrial technology and trade secrets have been concentrated in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

According to data on the "Status of Industrial Technology and Trade Secret Leakage" provided by the National Police Agency to Song Jae-bong, a member of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, and Small and Medium Venture Business Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, among the 589 cases of damage that occurred from 2019 to 2023, 524 cases (89.0%) involved SMEs.

In particular, in 2019, out of a total of 112 cases of damage, 104 cases (92.9%) involved SMEs. The number of SME damage cases increased to 122 in 2020, then decreased to 80 and 88 in 2021 and 2022, respectively. However, last year, it rose again to 130 cases, marking the highest leakage damage in the past five years.

Looking at the domestic and international leakage status of industrial technology and trade secrets over the past five years, out of a total of 589 cases, 517 were leaked domestically, and 72 cases were leaked abroad. Among the overseas leakage destinations, China accounted for the largest number of cases (47) where technology and trade secrets were leaked.

Representative Song said, "The leakage of industrial technology and trade secrets is a critical issue that can directly affect the survival of SMEs," adding, "There is a need for meticulous government-level measures tailored to prevent and support damage for SMEs, which relatively lack the capacity to respond to technology leakage."