Illegal facilitators of key semiconductor personnel relocation sent to prosecution

[Anchor]

The moving of our semiconductor companies' skilled personnel and core technologies to China is also a problem.

There are illegal companies that facilitate our human resources to Chinese firms.

Two such companies have been caught by the police.

Reporter Lee Soo-min has the details.

[Report]

The semiconductor company 'Chengdu Gaozhen' in Chengdu, China, was established by Choi Jin-seok, a former executive of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, in collaboration with the local government.

Choi has been indicted for allegedly recruiting domestic semiconductor research personnel and smuggling Samsung Electronics' core semiconductor processing technology to China last September.

The police estimate that the economic value of the leaked semiconductor technology could reach about 4.3 trillion won.

However, it has been revealed that there were illegal activities in the process of these personnel moving to China.

The police have arrested and transferred to the prosecution Mr. A, the representative of a consulting firm, on charges of facilitating the relocation of research personnel without registering as an overseas paid employment agency with the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

Mr. A, a former Samsung Electronics employee, used his connections to approach domestic semiconductor research personnel and offered them high salaries as bait to propose relocation to Chinese companies.

He also acted as an advisor for the Chinese companies he facilitated the relocations to.

This Chinese company has continuously recruited key personnel from Samsung Electronics since its early establishment.

The problem is that when domestic specialized research personnel move to overseas companies, there is a significant risk of advanced technology leakage, but there is no proper way to restrict it.

[Lee Jong-hwan/Professor, Department of System Semiconductor Engineering, Sangmyung University: "The outflow of personnel is a more serious situation compared to technology outflow because personnel know the technology and are aware of all related matters."]

The police have also transferred one personnel agency that facilitated the relocation of semiconductor research personnel to China using the same method, along with two representatives, without detention.

This is KBS News, Lee Soo-min.