Employees from Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor are said to be summoned to the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office on the 4th of next month. It is absolutely not the case that they are being called due to wrongdoing. Rather, the prosecution is inviting them as 'special tutors.' The 'students' are the prosecutors and investigators in charge of technology leak cases. The purpose is to set up a 'special lecture' to ensure that they have a proper understanding of the relevant technologies to prevent technology leakage crimes.
According to the legal community on the 14th, special lectures on 'semiconductor technology' by a Samsung Electronics researcher and on 'secondary battery manufacturing processes' by a Hyundai Motor researcher will be held at the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office on the 4th of next month. The special lectures are hosted by the scientific investigation department of the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office. The objective of this special lecture is to improve the investigative capabilities of the prosecutors and investigators by increasing their understanding of technology in a situation where technology leak crimes, which pose severe threats to not only domestic corporations' competitiveness but also national security, continue to occur.
This is not the first time for such special lectures to take place. Since last year, the scientific investigation department has been conducting 'specialized competency enhancement training' for prosecutors designated for technology leaks. Last year, senior officials from the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office and prosecutors investigating technology leaks nationwide visited the Hyundai Motor Namyang Research Institute for a special lecture. The Namyang Research Institute is the largest automotive research institute in the country and serves as the research and development base for Hyundai Motor Group.
The outflow of the country's core technologies abroad is on the rise every year. The number of technology leak crimes handled by the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office increased annually, from 230 cases in 2021 to 348 in 2022, and reaching 379 in 2023. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, from 2018 to 2024, there were a total of 131 cases of overseas outflows of industrial technology and core national technology, which included 44 cases related to semiconductors, 28 cases to displays, 12 cases to electrical and electronic products, and 10 cases to shipbuilding. All of these areas are directly linked to the international competitiveness of the South Korean economy.
The methods of technology leakage are also evolving. In the past, foreign companies would scout domestic researchers by offering higher salaries and then take away their technologies. Recently, foreign companies are reportedly establishing companies in South Korea or acquiring domestic corporations, then extracting technologies in their entirety.
The courts are also increasing the sentences for technology leak crimes. Kim, a former Director General of Samsung Electronics, was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined 200 million won last month for allegedly transferring national core semiconductor technologies to a Chinese competitor. The seven-year sentence is the highest punishment for a single technology leak case in history. Previously, the Supreme Court's sentencing committee increased the guideline for sentencing corrections on crimes of overseas outflow of core national technologies to a maximum of 18 years in prison last March.