S. Korea indicts 10 over alleged chip tech theft for China
· UPIDec. 23 (Asia Today) -- South Korean prosecutors said Tuesday they have indicted 10 people, including a Samsung Electronics executive, on allegations they stole core semiconductor technologies from Samsung Electronics and SK hynix and provided them to Chinese competitors.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office's IT Crime Investigation Division said five suspects, including a former Samsung Electronics employee identified as A, were indicted and detained on charges including violations of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. Five members of Chinese memory chipmaker Changxin Memory Technologies' development team were indicted without detention on similar charges.
Prosecutors said the alleged leakage of 10-nanometer DRAM process technology from South Korea's top two memory chipmakers caused damage to the national economy estimated at at least tens of trillions of won (about tens of billions of dollars).
Prosecutors said A, a former Samsung department head, and another former Samsung researcher identified as B are accused of obtaining Samsung's 18-nanometer DRAM process information in September 2016 and passing it to Changxin Memory Technologies. The company's technology was described as a first-of-its-kind process developed over five years at a cost of 1.6 trillion won (about $1.08 billion).
The prosecution said Changxin Memory Technologies, founded in 2016, drew up plans soon after its launch to recruit key Samsung personnel and obtain technical information, bringing A onboard as its first development director. Prosecutors said A then sought to recruit engineers across major process steps and that B later obtained 10-nanometer DRAM process technology and moved to the Chinese company.
Prosecutors said Changxin Memory Technologies also recruited three more Samsung employees and began DRAM development, while separately obtaining core technologies from SK hynix through a partner company. The firm later succeeded in mass-producing 10-nanometer-class DRAM in 2023, prosecutors said.
A prosecution official said investigators identified the full scope of the alleged activities, including information leaks inside South Korea and development work carried out in China, and vowed a tough response to overseas industrial technology leakage.
- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
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