The Ministry of Intellectual Property will create a new investigative unit dedicated to cases of advanced technology leaks, including semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI), and will sharply increase the number of technology police. Amid ongoing concerns about prolonged investigations and a lack of expertise in technology-leak cases, the aim is to handle trade secret infringement and national core technology leak cases on separate tracks.
The Ministry of Intellectual Property on the 29th announced a plan to expand and reorganize the response system to technology leaks and theft, and said it will operate the expanded technology police organization starting on the 30th.
President Lee Jae-myung, during a Ministry of Intellectual Property briefing in Dec. last year, emphasized the severity of technology crimes and called for expanding the technology police workforce.
Under this reorganization, the technology crime response unit, previously centered on one division, will expand to a four-division structure. Within the Intellectual Property Protection and Cooperation Bureau, the Intellectual Property Protection Analysis Division, the Technology Leakage Special Judicial Police Division, and the Intellectual Property Protection Standards Team will be newly established. The technology police workforce will also expand from 27 to 61.
Minister Kim Yong-seon said at a briefing that "28 personnel will be added directly through this reorganization," adding, "We plan to increase the overall size of the technology police through internal personnel reassignments and additional appointments of special judicial police." She also said, "We will increase digital forensics specialists from two to three and provide separate forensics training to internal special judicial police to strengthen scientific investigation capabilities."
Until now, trade secret, patent, and design infringement cases were handled by the same investigative division, but going forward the Technology Leakage Special Judicial Police Division will exclusively handle advanced technology leak and theft cases. Twenty-one investigators will be assigned to the new dedicated division, and plans call for actively assigning experts in electrical, chemical, and mechanical fields; those with experience in patent examination and trials; Ph.D.-level personnel; and attorneys and patent attorneys.
The Minister added, "There are currently four attorneys and patent attorneys within the technology police, and we will pursue special recruitment of external experts, such as attorneys and police officers with investigative experience."
The Intellectual Property Protection Analysis Division will use patent big data to analyze technology fields and institutions at high risk of technology leaks and detect abnormalities through networks of cooperation with corporations and research institutions. A whistleblower reward program for industrial spies and security training for small and venture businesses will also be operated.
The Ministry of Intellectual Property said it will, through the Intellectual Property Protection Standards Team, revise investigative guidelines and standards for compulsory investigations and operate an investigation review committee to facilitate consultation with external experts. It will also promote guarantees of the right to counsel, expanded video recording, and the introduction of a system to notify parties of case progress. In cooperation with the Korean National Police Agency, it will advance investigation manuals, provide training, and conduct reciprocal personnel dispatches.
The Minister said, "By expanding and reorganizing the response system to technology leaks and theft, we will secure the golden time for detecting technology crimes and firmly lay the groundwork for becoming a super-gap technology powerhouse by protecting the technologies of our corporations through maximizing the expertise and speed of investigations."