Industrial Technology Leakage in SMEs Persists... 7 out of 10 Overseas Leaks Involve China

Police to Conduct Planned Investigation on Industrial Technology Leakage for 6 Months
100 Cases and 258 Individuals Caught for Technology Leakage
89% Leakage from SMEs... Focus on Advanced Industries like Precision Machinery

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] It has been revealed that domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continue to suffer from ‘industrial technology leakage.’ In cases of overseas leakage, China accounted for the majority, and among the leaked technologies, a significant portion included advanced technologies with international competitiveness such as precision machinery and automobiles.

The National Police Agency announced on the 12th that through a planned investigation into industrial technology leakage crimes conducted from March to September this year, they detected 100 cases of technology leakage and arrested 258 individuals.

By type, there were 90 cases of domestic leakage and 10 cases of overseas leakage. Among the overseas leakage cases, 7 were to China and the remaining 3 were to the United States.

By company size, technology leakage damage was mostly concentrated in SMEs, which have relatively weaker security conditions, accounting for 89 cases. There were also 11 cases involving large companies with well-established security.

By industry, precision machinery had the highest number with 21 cases, followed by electrical and electronics and automobiles with 24 cases each, information and communication with 10 cases, and bio-health with 6 cases. The police explained that advanced technologies with high competitiveness were primarily leaked. A police official stated, “It is necessary to intensively protect key industrial technologies through raising awareness among company personnel and security education for research staff.”

The police are strengthening intelligence gathering and policy coordination based on cooperation with related organizations such as the National Intelligence Service and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to prepare against technology leakage, and are actively conducting education and promotional activities to protect SME technologies.

Furthermore, with recent amendments to related laws significantly increasing statutory penalties for overseas leakage of national core technologies and trade secrets, investigations into overseas leakage will be further intensified.

A police official emphasized, “Despite restrictions on field investigation activities due to COVID-19 and other factors, the number of arrests increased by 11% compared to the previous year,” and added, “We will actively promote prevention and publicity activities for industrial technology leakage reflecting the changed crime methods and patterns.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.