93 Industrial Espionage Cases Detected Over 5 Years... "Beware of Joint Research Proposals"

Ministry of Science and ICT-NIS-University Research Security Meeting on the 24th
Measures to Strengthen by October

"They proposed investing in research funds and collaborating on joint research, but they only took secrets away."

(Source=Google)

Recently, as the global competition for technological supremacy intensifies, industrial espionage activities targeting South Korea have been increasing. In response, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Intelligence Service, along with various universities and research institutions, have begun establishing research security measures.

On the afternoon of the 24th, the Ministry of Science and ICT held a research security meeting at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul, together with the National Intelligence Service’s Industrial Confidentiality Protection Center.

This meeting was organized to discuss the importance of research security and ways to strengthen the protection of university research assets, in collaboration with 14 university-industry cooperation foundations. From 2018 to 2022, the Industrial Confidentiality Protection Center of the National Intelligence Service detected 93 cases of overseas leakage of industrial technology over five years. A major type of technology theft includes approaches disguised as joint research with universities or research institutes.

The Ministry of Science and ICT stated, "We are promoting the establishment of policy directions to effectively protect national research assets based on the autonomy and openness of research," adding, "We discussed various aspects such as legal and institutional improvements, management of security tasks, and the establishment of a research security support system." Research security refers to measures to protect research outcomes and information during the execution of national research and development projects before the technology is completed. Unlike industrial security, which focuses on control and post-regulation, research security emphasizes the prevention of security incidents. Recently, the international community, including the Group of Seven (G7), has been strengthening research security measures while emphasizing research integrity.

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to establish the "(tentative name) Plan to Solidify the Research Security System for Creating a Trusted Research Ecosystem" by October this year, in line with international standards. It also aims to promote the dissemination of national research and development achievements by strengthening international cooperation on research security and facilitating trust-based international joint research. To this end, the ministry plans to prepare a field guide for research security, provide consultations and raise awareness about concerns regarding the leakage of research assets, and support research security in the field. Additionally, it will subdivide the security classification of national research and development projects and provide detailed guidance on the security classification procedures. After this meeting, continuous consultations and communication will be maintained with universities, research institutions, companies, and specialized organizations to develop concrete measures.

A Ministry of Science and ICT official said, "Research security is a prerequisite for protecting and disseminating the outcomes of national research and development," and added, "Through research security policies that communicate with and support the research field, we will raise awareness of research security on-site and actively protect core research assets and researchers."

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