"9 Times Annual Salary, Children Entering Prestigious Universities: China's Attempt to Steal Korean Technology"

NIS "Blocked 123 Attempts of Technology Leakage Over 5 Years"
"Majority 83 Cases from China... Estimated Damage 20 Trillion Won"
Key Export Items Include Electric, Electronics, Shipbuilding, Display, etc.

Director Park Ji-won of the National Intelligence Service is drinking water during the National Assembly Intelligence Committee's audit held at the National Intelligence Service building on the 3rd.

Undercover intelligence battles among countries worldwide to steal South Korea's national core technologies are intensifying. In the case of China, it has been confirmed that they offer salaries up to nine times higher than the original, and even use admission to prestigious Chinese universities for their children as bait.

On the 3rd, during the National Assembly Intelligence Committee's audit held at the National Intelligence Service (NIS) headquarters in Naegok-dong, the NIS reported, "In the past five years, we have detected and blocked a total of 123 cases of overseas technology leakage, including 31 cases involving national core technologies," and "the estimated damage from about 30 cases of technology leakage amounts to approximately 20 trillion won," according to a press briefing by Kim Byung-gi of the Democratic Party and Ha Tae-kyung of the People Power Party, both secretaries of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee.

By country, China overwhelmingly led with 83 cases of attempted technology leakage. The companies involved in the leaks were concentrated in export sectors such as electrical and electronics, shipbuilding, and displays. Among the victim companies, 65% were small and medium-sized enterprises that were relatively lacking in preventive measures.

The methods of technology leakage have become more sophisticated and diversified.

Representative Ha explained, "They offer salaries three to nine times higher than high salaries or use bait such as sending the children of skilled technicians to prestigious Chinese universities with scholarship support."

He added, "They also establish disguised research institutes for technology consulting or for the purpose of domestic technology leakage," and "to evade NIS tracking, they conduct interviews in third countries and trade technology through the dark web."

On the morning of the 3rd, the 2020 National Intelligence Service audit by the National Assembly Intelligence Committee is taking place at the National Intelligence Service in Naegok-dong, Seoul. The photo shows the National Intelligence Service logo.

Furthermore, cyberattack attempts targeting South Korea are rapidly increasing.

The NIS reported to the National Assembly, "This year, the average daily number of cyberattack attempts on national public sectors is 1.62 million." Representative Kim said, "Compared to 410,000 daily cyber threats in 2016, this is about a fourfold increase."

The main perpetrators of hacking attacks were North Korea, and 84% of the methods involved distributing hacking emails. Eighty percent of the attack purposes were information theft.

Representative Kim explained, "This year, there were particularly detected hacking attempt signs targeting key National Assembly figures such as lawmakers, aides, and advisory committee members," and "measures have been taken with relevant agencies." The NIS also revealed that methods such as stealing IT companies' network configurations and encrypting internal data to demand cryptocurrency have been discovered.

On this day, the NIS reported on North Korea overall, including trends related to Chairman Kim Jong-un, changes in the power structure, and foreign policy trends.

While it is true that Chairman Kim's weight has rapidly increased every year since coming to power, the NIS stated that there are no particular abnormalities in his health. The NIS assessed that not only is Chairman Kim's health stable, but the power structure is also becoming more solid.

Additionally, North Korea is constructing two new submarines, both of which are believed to be capable of carrying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). The NIS also confirmed that during the recent 75th anniversary parade of the founding of the Workers' Party, electronic warfare units and chemical warfare units were publicly revealed for the first time.

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