A former Director General of Samsung Electronics, who is accused of leaking semiconductor process information and other details related to national core technology to a Chinese company, was sentenced to seven years in prison and taken into custody during the first trial. This marks the highest sentence ever imposed in first trial rulings for technology leak crimes.
On the 19th, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 25 (Judge Ji Gwi-yeon) sentenced Mr. Kim, who faces charges of violating the Industrial Technology Protection Act and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, to seven years in prison and took him into custody.
On that day, the court stated, "The facts of the indictment, which indicate that Mr. Kim improperly acquired the 18-nanometer DRAM process information of Samsung Electronics, leading to its disclosure and use, are largely recognized as guilty."
The court continued, "Such offenses seriously hinder healthy competition and the transaction order in related fields and have a significant negative impact on the national industrial competitiveness of South Korea; therefore, the damages incurred are not insignificant."
It further noted, "Especially considering the expenses incurred by Samsung Electronics until the successful development and mass production of the 18-nanometer DRAM products, it can be easily anticipated that the scale of the damage suffered by Samsung Electronics will reach an enormous amount."
Mr. Kim is accused of unlawfully leaking Samsung Electronics' 18-nanometer DRAM semiconductor process information for use in product development by the Chinese semiconductor manufacturer ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT). CXMT is the only DRAM producer in China. The prosecution determined that CXMT had improperly acquired information from Samsung Electronics through Mr. Kim, enabling them to overcome technological barriers.
The prosecution suspects that Mr. Kim leaked core semiconductor information when he moved to CXMT in 2016 and received bribes amounting to hundreds of millions of won. It has also been identified that he lured away around 20 personnel from Samsung Electronics and its affiliates by offering high salaries.