Former Samsung Engineer Who Leaked Semiconductor Technology to China Receives 2-Year Probation in 1st Trial... Prosecution Appeals

The prosecution has appealed the first-instance ruling that sentenced a former semiconductor engineer, who leaked advanced domestic semiconductor-related industrial technology overseas, to a suspended sentence and a fine.

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The Information Technology Crime Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Seong-beom) announced on the 3rd that it has filed an appeal against the first-instance ruling that sentenced former Samsung Electronics engineer A (44), who was indicted and detained on charges of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Act (including leaking trade secrets overseas) and the Industrial Technology Protection Act, to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspended sentence and a fine of 10 million won.

A prosecution official stated, "Considering that A illicitly acquired semiconductor ultra-fine process technology, which could cause enormous damage to national security and the national economy if leaked overseas, and used it for personal gain, yet only admitted a very small part of the charges during the trial and showed no remorse, we judged that a heavier punishment is necessary." He added, "We will do our best to ensure that a sentence commensurate with the guilt is imposed in the appellate trial."

According to the prosecution, after leaving Samsung, A moved to a Chinese semiconductor company in August 2018 and is accused of illicitly acquiring 33 files related to national core technology and trade secrets concerning the latest semiconductor ultra-fine processes by linking them via email and then viewing and photographing them externally.

Regarding this case, the prosecution sent two engineers who moved to Chinese companies, including A, and two Samsung Engineering researchers to trial in October last year.

They are understood to have targeted key technical materials such as ultrapure water system operation manuals and design drawings. Ultrapure water is water that has had various impurities such as ions, organic matter, and microorganisms removed to less than one ten trillionth, making it nearly pure water, and is used in various cleaning processes required in semiconductor manufacturing. Since impurities in water cause defects, the stable supply of ultrapure water greatly affects semiconductor yield. Samsung Electronics has invested more than 30 billion won annually since 2006 to develop ultrapure water systems.

A, who moved to a Chinese company, is investigated to have used the stolen materials to place orders for ultrapure water systems and requested technical explanation materials from bidding companies that met Samsung Engineering system specifications.

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