Penalties for Industrial Technology Leakage as Espionage... People Power Party's Im Byeongheon Proposes Amendment Bill

Im Byung-heon, a member of the People Power Party (Daegu Jung·Nam District), on the 27th, took the lead in proposing a partial amendment to the Criminal Act that punishes those who leak or disclose industrial technology abroad with espionage charges.

According to the current "Act on the Prevention and Protection of Industrial Technology Leakage," those who leak national core technology overseas are subject to imprisonment for more than three years and a fine of up to 1.5 billion won, and those who leak general industrial technology overseas are subject to imprisonment for up to 15 years or a fine of up to 1.5 billion won.

Im Byung-heon, member of the People Power Party.

However, the current sentencing guidelines of the courts set the basic imprisonment term for crimes involving technology leakage abroad from one year to three years and six months, and the maximum imprisonment term up to six years for aggravated punishment.

In fact, according to the "Research Report on Sentencing Guidelines for Technology Leakage Crimes" by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, from January 2015 to January this year, a total of 365 people were sentenced to imprisonment in the first trial for technology leakage-related crimes, but 292 of them were released on probation, accounting for as much as 80%, and only 20% (73 people) served actual prison terms.

In countries such as the United States and Taiwan, leaking industrial technology abroad is punished similarly to espionage, showing a stark contrast to our situation.

This amendment adds a new clause to Article 98 of the Criminal Act stating, "Those who leak or disclose industrial technology abroad shall be subject to the same punishment as in paragraph 1," allowing those who leak or disclose industrial technology abroad to be punished under espionage charges. As a result, those who leak or disclose industrial technology will face the same sentencing as espionage, including the death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for seven years or more.

Im Byung-heon of the People Power Party said, "Leaking industrial technology is a very serious crime that destroys not only companies but also the national economy and future," and added, "I hope that the prompt passage of this amendment will raise public awareness of crimes involving industrial technology leakage."

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