"Samsung semiconductor technology leaked to China"... 107 industrial technology leaks overseas

[Financial News] Over the past five years, 107 cases of domestic industrial technology being taken overseas were detected. Semiconductor technology accounted for 40 of those cases, or about 37%.
According to the '2026 Status of Industrial Technology Leaks Overseas' data submitted by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to People Power Party lawmaker Gu Ja-geun, a member of the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) detected a total of 107 industrial technology leakage cases from 2021 to 2025.
The figure includes only cases detected by the relevant authorities, meaning the actual number of attempted leaks and the scale of the damage could be greater.
The number of cases detected each year was 22 in 2021, 20 in 2022, 23 in 2023 and 23 in 2024. Last year, the figure fell slightly to 19 from the previous year.
By sector, semiconductor technology leaks were the most common, with 40 cases accounting for about 37% of the total. They were followed by display technology with 21 cases, electrical and electronic technology with 10, automotive technology with seven, and shipbuilding technology with six.
By company size, cases involving small and medium-sized enterprises were the most common at 64, followed by 33 involving large companies. There were also 10 cases originating at universities, research institutes and similar organizations.
Of the leaked technologies, 31 were designated as national core technologies.
National core technologies are technologies with high technical or economic value or significant growth potential for related industries, whose leakage overseas could seriously harm national security and the development of the national economy.
Semiconductors also accounted for the largest share of national core technology leaks, with nine cases. Five cases each were detected in the display and electrical and electronic sectors.
Investigations and judicial proceedings were also carried out in connection with the industrial technology leakage cases.
During the same period, the Korean National Police Agency investigated 77 domestic and overseas industrial technology leakage cases and referred 230 people to prosecutors. Of these, 41 involved leaks overseas and 24 involved national core technologies.
Over the past five years, prosecutors brought 184 people to trial in connection with 74 of the 95 cases involving violations of the Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology.
The case involving a former Samsung Electronics division head, identified only as Mr. A, is considered a representative example. Mr. A was caught on suspicion of illegally leaking Samsung Electronics' 18-nanometer DRAM process information, designated as a national core technology, and handing it over to Chinese company ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT).
In April, Mr. A was sentenced to six years and four months in prison and fined 200 million won in a retrial following a remand.
The government and the National Assembly are strengthening their response to overseas technology leaks through amendments to the Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology and the espionage law.
However, with around 20 overseas industrial technology leakage cases detected each year, calls are growing for further improvements to companies' technology management and control systems, as well as to the relevant laws and institutions.
Gu said, "As countries around the world are actively working to protect core technologies by strengthening penalties for industrial technology leaks and easing evidentiary requirements, South Korea must also establish more comprehensive measures."


[email protected] Han Seung-gon Reporter