"Astronomical Damage Prevented: Former Major Company Employee Arrested for Attempting to Leak Secondary Battery Technology Overseas"

A former employee of a major domestic company who attempted to leak secondary battery technology overseas has been detected and arrested through the cooperation of government-affiliated agencies. It is predicted that if the attempt to leak the technology overseas had actually succeeded, the resulting damage would have been astronomical.

Jupiter Ho, Deputy Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office, is announcing the investigation results of the 'overseas leakage case' at the Government Daejeon Complex on the 28th. Photo by Jeong Ilwoong

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced on the 28th that three individuals, including Mr. A (48, under arrest), a former team leader at a major domestic secondary battery company, have been indicted on charges of violating the “Special Act on Reinforcement and Protection of National Advanced Strategic Industry Competitiveness” and the “Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act.”

Mr. A and others are accused of taking out secondary battery-related data containing national advanced strategic technology without the company’s authorization.

According to the Technology Design Special Judicial Police (hereinafter referred to as the Technology Police) of KIPO and the Patent Crime Investigation Division of the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office, Mr. A, while considering a job change, met with the representative of an overseas company through agent Mr. C (35, not detained) in October 2023. In November 2023, after being dismissed from his position as team leader, he decided to resign.

Subsequently, from November 2023 until his resignation in 2024, Mr. A accessed the victim company’s virtual PC from his home and other locations using his work laptop and illicitly exported data by photographing the screen (over 3,000 image files). In addition, in October 2024, he unlawfully acquired more data through Mr. B (45, not detained), who was still employed at the victim company.

The data illicitly exported by Mr. A included: ▲ cell design information for major secondary battery items (currently under contracts worth several trillion to more than ten trillion won), ▲ mid- to long-term comprehensive strategic materials such as product and technology development, manufacturing and cost roadmaps, and ▲ core material development information such as for anode materials (evaluation, unit price, and partner company operation plans).

Progress of Major Criminal Activities. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office

In particular, it has been determined that some of the data leaked by Mr. A constitutes national advanced strategic technology and national core technology.

The Technology Police explained that if this core information had been leaked overseas, the resulting damage would have been astronomical, considering the scale of the victim company’s contracts, enormous research and development (R&D) costs, and the impact on the domestic secondary battery industry ecosystem.

Previously, in November of last year, the Technology Police launched an investigation after receiving intelligence from the National Intelligence Service’s Industrial Secret Protection Center regarding Mr. A’s alleged crimes.

Furthermore, the Technology Police conducted the entire investigation in cooperation with the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office. They confirmed through the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy that some of the data leaked by Mr. A constituted national advanced strategic technology, which enabled them to arrest and investigate Mr. A.

This case is significant in that the close cooperation among government-affiliated agencies?precise intelligence from the National Intelligence Service, technological expertise from KIPO, investigative and legal expertise from the prosecution, and prompt verification by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy?prevented the overseas leakage of core domestic secondary battery technology.

Kim Wanki, Commissioner of KIPO, stated, “The leakage of core technology can pose a serious threat to national security and the economy. The Technology Police will take the lead in preventing technology leakage based on technological expertise, and will strive to protect advanced technologies, which are the future growth engines, through active cooperation with relevant agencies.”