"Swift Investigation Link for Technology Theft Cases"... Ministry of SMEs and Startups and National Police Agency Launch 'Fast-Track' System

As Part of Measures to Eradicate Technology Theft from SMEs
Immediate Link from Administrative Investigations to Police Investigations
Enhanced Support for Victimized Companies through Regional Collaboration
Regular Working-Level Meetings for Case Sharing and System Improvement

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is strengthening its response to technology theft targeting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in cooperation with the National Police Agency. A fast-track system will be implemented to quickly connect administrative investigations to police investigations from the early stages, and a region-based collaboration framework will be used to support initial response and relief for victimized companies.

On September 30, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced these cooperation measures with the National Police Agency. This collaboration aims to swiftly and efficiently implement the detailed action items of the "Measures to Eradicate Technology Theft from SMEs," which were announced on September 10, through inter-agency cooperation.

The "Technology Theft Fast-Track" will be activated, allowing cases reported to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups for administrative investigation regarding technology theft to be linked to the National Police Agency’s industrial technology leakage investigations, if requested by the complainant.

Previously, administrative investigations by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups only applied to acts of technology theft that met the strict criteria of trade secret violations, making it difficult to initiate investigations. There were also opinions that, even when technology theft was recognized, the administrative action was limited to a corrective recommendation, which rendered the administrative investigation ineffective.

Now, by quickly connecting to police investigations, the authorities plan to effectively sanction companies that have stolen technology by responding not only to acts of infringement such as technology theft, but also to related economic crimes such as breach of trust and embezzlement.

Specialized personnel from both the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the National Police Agency, who operate on a regional basis, will collaborate to actively respond to technology theft cases in their jurisdictions. When a technology theft-related complaint is received in a region, the Ministry’s Technology Protection Support Team will provide legal consulting and connect the case to support programs for relief, while the National Police Agency’s Industrial Security Cooperation Officer will review whether to link the case to a police investigation, thereby strengthening close initial support for technology theft victims.

The two agencies will hold regular working-level meetings to discuss technology theft targeting SMEs. These meetings will be used to share major cases and collaboration outcomes, and to actively discuss improvements to technology protection systems and the identification of new collaborative projects.

Park Yongsoon, Director of Technology Innovation Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, "We hope that by strengthening our collaboration with the National Police Agency, companies that have suffered from technology theft will be able to receive prompt and proper relief."

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