17 Associates of Partner Companies Indicted for Illegally Transferring Semiconductor Technology from Samsung and Hynix

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Seventeen individuals, including the head of a partner company's research institute who leaked key domestic DRAM semiconductor technologies of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to China, have been brought to trial.

On the 26th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Division for Trade Secret Leakage and Information and Communication Crimes (Chief Prosecutor Jo Sangwon) announced that the head of the research institute and the sales group leader of domestic semiconductor equipment company A were arrested and indicted on charges of violating the Industrial Technology Protection Act and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act (including overseas leakage of trade secrets). Additionally, the head of the process group, the factory manager, and the subcontractor representative were also arrested and indicted on charges of violating the Industrial Technology Protection Act.

Furthermore, the vice president of company A, the quality group leader, and 12 others, including former employees of SEMES, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, were indicted without detention on charges of participating in these crimes and violating the Industrial Technology Protection Act.

According to the prosecution, company A is suspected of leaking SK Hynix's HKMG semiconductor manufacturing technology to a Chinese competitor from August 2018 to June of last year.

The HKMG technology is a cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing process that uses new materials to enhance the performance of DRAM semiconductors.

Company A is also suspected of secretly utilizing advanced semiconductor technologies and trade secrets, such as blueprints for supercritical cleaning equipment obtained through former SEMES employees, to develop equipment for export to China.

The supercritical cleaning equipment, first developed worldwide by SEMES, is a core technology in the 10-nanometer class DRAM semiconductor manufacturing process, which uses liquid carbon dioxide to dry semiconductor cleaning chemicals.

The prosecution stated, "Upon receiving information from the National Intelligence Service's Industrial Secrets Protection Center indicating that key domestic semiconductor technologies had been leaked to China, we promptly launched an investigation. We prevented further leakage of the HKMG semiconductor manufacturing technology and preemptively blocked the export of semiconductor supercritical cleaning equipment to China that used the leaked technology."

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