Technology Leaks to China and the US Increase... Over 300 Industrial Spies Caught This Year

317 Arrested from Feb to Oct This Year
26 Cases from China in Last 3 Years Highest
Diverse in 'Machinery, Information & Communication' Fields Too

[Asia Economy Reporters Jang Sehee and Gong Byungseon] Mr. A, who worked at a company located in Gyeonggi-do, leaked the company's core technology while working in the domestic display-related field with the intention of moving to an overseas competitor. Mr. B exported military equipment abroad without authorization, disclosed blueprints of two key components to a foreign company, and pocketed 60 billion KRW.

It has been revealed that the number of industrial technology leakage offenders who stole and leaked company technology domestically and internationally has increased by nearly 100 people within a year. With about 300 industrial technology leakage offenders being caught annually, there are calls for thorough investigations and strict punishments.

According to the "Domestic Industrial Secret Leakage Detection Status" submitted by the National Police Agency to the National Assembly on the 15th, 317 industrial technology leakage offenders were caught through special crackdowns from February to October this year. This is an increase of 93 compared to last year (224 offenders).

The number of industrial technology leakage offenders was 381 in 2019 and 345 in 2020, showing that about 300 offenders are caught each year. Among the 101 cases detected by the police, 75 were for trade secret leakage, 15 for breach of trust, and 11 for industrial technology leakage.

A National Police Agency official stated, "To respond to industrial technology leakage, we have established a dedicated Economic Security Investigation Team within the National Police Agency," adding, "We also plan to actively provide rewards to whistleblowers who report cases of industrial technology being leaked overseas."

Looking at the overseas technology leakage cases over the past three years, China accounted for the most with 26 cases, followed by the United States (7 cases), Japan (1 case), Taiwan (1 case), Malaysia (1 case), and Uzbekistan (1 case).

The leaked fields were also diverse. Technology leakage occurred frequently in machinery (63 cases), information and communications (40 cases), and automotive and railroads (37 cases). Core technologies were also leaked in the electrical and electronics (30 cases), semiconductors (7 cases), and display (6 cases) sectors.

There are concerns that industrial technology leakage can cause significant damage to companies and the nation, and thus must be thoroughly eradicated.

Professor Jang Hangbae of the Department of Industrial Security at Chung-Ang University said, "A nationwide response system must be established, and the interest and awareness of top executives are necessary to build security systems for small and medium-sized enterprises." He added, "It is also important to establish a separate organization dedicated to security management for companies expanding overseas and to cultivate security awareness among employees working locally."

Professor Lee Woonghyuk of the Department of Police Science at Konkuk University emphasized, "Technology leakage crimes should be regarded as a matter of national security," and stressed, "A new active cooperation system between the police and the National Intelligence Service must be established." He also added, "Classifying important national core technologies and regularly conducting lie detector tests for public institutions working in those areas could be another method."

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