Hanwha Ocean "Will Strictly Hold Accountable Those Who Leak Submarine Technology"

"We will hold those involved in the submarine technology leak incident strictly accountable."

Hanwha Ocean made this announcement regarding the complete leak of the design drawings of the submarine developed by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), which it acquired last year, to Taiwan.

On the 5th, a Hanwha Ocean official stated, "Since 2019, DSME has been aware of the suspicion of submarine drawing leaks in cooperation with national intelligence and investigative agencies, and has investigated the matter in collaboration with related organizations," adding, "The main suspects were indicted last year on charges of violating the Foreign Trade Act and the Trade Secret Protection Act and are currently on trial."

"Other suspects are currently residing overseas, so their prosecution has been suspended, and no evidence of leaking national core technology has yet been confirmed," the official added.

DSME1400-class submarine exported to Indonesia by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (now Hanwha Ocean).
[Photo by Hanwha Ocean website]

According to the police, two former DSME employees, including Mr. A, are under non-custodial investigation on charges of leaking internal technology considered trade secrets.

The police believe that after Mr. A and others moved from DSME to Company B, a submarine development consulting firm, they handed over submarine drawings to the Taiwanese side.

The leak of the drawings is understood to have occurred during the process in which Company B collaborated with Taiwan International Shipbuilding Corporation (CSBC) to build submarines.

The 2,000-page drawings are known to be for the DSME1400 vessels, of which DSME sold three units to Indonesia starting in 2011 for 1.16 trillion KRW.

These drawings were reportedly used in the development of Taiwan government's first indigenous submarine, the "Hai Kun."

A Hanwha Ocean official said, "We are doing our utmost to protect national core technology and have established a continuous cooperation and collaboration system with national intelligence agencies to prevent incidents like this from happening again."

He continued, "We intend to firmly and strictly hold accountable those involved in technology leak crimes, including during the past DSME period, and ensure they are punished according to the law."

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