Ministry of National Defense: "Overseas Leakage Causes Major Security Damage"
Penalties for crimes involving the leakage of defense industry technology abroad will be significantly strengthened.
The Ministry of National Defense and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced that the amendment to the 'Defense Industry Technology Protection Act' was promulgated on the 3rd and will take effect on June 3rd next year.
The amendment changes the punishment for leaking defense technology abroad from the existing "imprisonment of up to 20 years or a fine of up to 2 billion KRW" to "a fixed-term imprisonment of at least 1 year and a fine of up to 2 billion KRW to be imposed concurrently." The upper limit on imprisonment has been removed, and the punishment, which was either imprisonment or a fine, has been strengthened to allow both imprisonment and a fine to be imposed.
In addition, the number of members of the 'Defense Industry Technology Protection Committee,' which performs tasks such as designating defense industry technology and establishing technology protection policies, will be expanded from the current 25 to 28.
The Ministry of National Defense explained the background for strengthening penalties, stating, "There have been continuous calls to revise the current laws because the leakage of defense industry technology abroad causes significant damage to national security."
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