Indicted for stealing technology

[Anchor]

A former Samsung Electronics employee has been caught trying to smuggle 'national core technology' in the semiconductor field to a Chinese company.

This time, a method has emerged where Chinese companies are attempting to steal technology by establishing domestic corporations.

Reporter Hwang Da-ye has the story.

[Report]

To manufacture semiconductors, the process of etching circuits on a disc called a wafer is repeated.

During this process, foreign substances even as thin as one-hundred-thousandth of a hair must be completely removed.

This is a cleaning technology, which is a core technology in the semiconductor manufacturing process.

[Park Jae-geun/Hanyang University Department of Convergence Electronics Professor: "One of the seven major processes in semiconductor manufacturing is the cleaning technology. Korea has developed this technology to a world-class level...."]

However, 11 individuals from domestic companies attempting to smuggle this semiconductor cleaning technology overseas have been caught by the prosecution.

Mr. A, a former cleaning process engineer at Samsung Electronics, established a company and signed a contract in 2021 to transfer personnel and technology to the domestic corporation of China's largest equipment company for 7.8 billion won.

Mr. A also produced export cleaning equipment by stealing design blueprints through former employees of not only Samsung Electronics but also its partner companies.

The equipment produced in this way was about to be exported in large quantities to China, but the prosecution's search and seizure operation halted the crime.

Mr. A and others involved denied the allegations, claiming they "developed it in-house," but it was confirmed during the forensic investigation that technology from Samsung Electronics and others had been stolen.

Recently, there has been a clear upward trend of leaking industrial technology overseas.

[Seo Min-woo/Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Defense Industry and Industrial Technology Crime Investigation Department Prosecutor: "This investigation confirmed that foreign companies are directly establishing businesses in Korea. The reason is that they can easily recruit engineers who are reluctant to live abroad...."]

One of the affected companies is reported to have invested over 200 billion won solely for technology research expenses.

This is KBS News, Hwang Da-ye.