A former employee accused of leaking trade secrets, including national core technologies of Samsung Biologics (Samsung Biologics), was given a suspended prison sentence on appeal. The employee had been taken into custody after a prison term was handed down at the first trial but was released following the appeal ruling.
The Incheon District Court Criminal Appeals Division 4-2 (Presiding Judge Ryu Ho-jung) on the 19th overturned the lower court's sentence of three years in prison for former Samsung Biologics employee A (46), who was indicted on charges including violating the Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology, and sentenced A to three years in prison, suspended for five years. The court also ordered 200 hours of community service.
In July, the first trial panel said, "A large volume of materials was leaked, and national core technologies in the field of biotechnology were included, so we have no choice but to impose a custodial sentence," and sentenced A to three years in prison and remanded A into custody.
The appellate panel also found A guilty of leaking materials that included national core technologies. The appellate panel said, "The materials the defendant printed and took out over two weeks exceeded 5,000 pages and included national core technologies," adding, "This endangers the company's competitive base and adversely affects national industrial competitiveness."
However, the appellate panel determined there was no indication that A leaked the materials to other corporations or overseas, and that the damage from the crime had not materialized. The appellate panel said, "A search and seizure of the defendant's residence and mobile phone found no materials indicating leaks to other corporations or overseas, or preparations to change jobs," adding, "The defendant claims to have torn up the materials and discarded them at a trash site, and it is difficult to see that disposal led to the materials being leaked to a third party and the damage becoming a reality."
A was brought to trial on charges of unlawfully leaking 174 company trade secret files, including the "standard operating procedures (SOP) for contract manufacturing facilities of biopharmaceuticals," from Dec. 3–11, 2022, at the Samsung Biologics headquarters in Songdo-dong, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon.
It was found that A printed files stored in the company's internal computer system onto paper, hid them inside clothing, and took them out. On the 13th of the same month, A was also caught by security personnel while attempting to secretly remove 37 trade secrets totaling about 300 A4 pages and was handed over to police.
The materials A attempted to remove reportedly included two types of national core technologies, such as IT SOPs and analyses of guidelines from regulatory authorities in various countries.