Former Executive Claims "Fabricated Incident" in Attempt to Establish Samsung Electronics Semiconductor Copy Factory in China

A former Samsung Electronics executive, who was arrested and indicted on charges of extracting design blueprints and attempting to replicate an entire Samsung Electronics semiconductor factory in China, denied the allegations again on the 9th, stating, "This case is fabricated."

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At the second trial of former Samsung Electronics executive A, held under the supervision of Judge Lee Ji-yeon of Suwon District Court Criminal Division 14, A's defense attorney stated, "Samsung Electronics targeted the defendant because he had significantly contributed to the revival and recovery of Hynix after moving there."

A's side argued, "Samsung Electronics fabricated and exaggerated this case to prevent former employees from working in China," and claimed, "The defendant's attempt to build a semiconductor factory was not illegal at all."

A was prosecuted for illegally acquiring and using Samsung Electronics' trade secrets, including the semiconductor factory BED, process layout, and factory design blueprints, between August 2018 and February 2019. The semiconductor factory BED is a technology that creates an optimal environment free of impurities in the space where semiconductor manufacturing takes place. The process layout is a blueprint containing information such as the arrangement and area of the eight core processes for semiconductor production. These technologies pertain to '30-nanometer or below DRAM' and 'NAND flash' semiconductor process technologies used in laptops and mobile phones and are classified as national core technologies.

In July 2015, A established a semiconductor manufacturing company in Singapore, attracted large-scale investments from Chengdu City in China and Taiwanese electronics manufacturers, and recruited about 200 personnel from the domestic semiconductor industry. Investigations revealed that he instructed employees to obtain and utilize Samsung Electronics semiconductor factory design blueprints.

During the trial, A's defense attorney and the prosecution clashed over the ownership of the design blueprints for Samsung Electronics' Xi'an semiconductor factory. The defense argued, "The victim company in this case is Samsung China Semiconductor Co., Ltd., specified in the indictment, not Samsung Electronics, so the charges themselves are invalid." The prosecution countered, "This case concerns technology leakage, not theft of design blueprints, so ownership is irrelevant."

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