A former Samsung executive is being held in detention after being charged with stealing company secrets to build a chip factory in China.
Ex-Samsung Exec Charged with Stealing
The 65-year-old executive wasn’t identified but according to the Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office, the executive allegedly stole trade secrets to set up a chip factory in the city of Xian.
The secret was classified as “national core technology”. According to South Korean law, these have the potential as having a major negative impact on national security and the economy if it is disclosed overseas.
These were Samsung factory blueprints and clean-room designs from 2018 and 2019. As per authorities, these would’ve been worth at least KRW 300 billion (around PHP 13 billion) to Samsung.
Additionally, the Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against six other people who worked for the executive and are believed to have been involved.
“It is a serious crime that can have a tremendous negative impact on our economic security by shaking the foundation of the domestic semiconductor industry at a time when competition for chip production is intensifying day by day. The semiconductor industry accounted for 16.5 percent of South Korea’s total exports as of 2022… and is a national security asset,” the prosecutors said in a statement released last Monday.
Currently, the United States and China are battling it out to gain control of the chip market. With Samsung being one of the world’s largest makers of chips in memory and smartphones, this would’ve been pretty catastrophic for South Korea.
Ram found his love and appreciation for writing in 2015 having started in the gaming and esports sphere for GG Network. He would then transition to focus more on the world of tech which has also began his journey into learning more about this world. That said though, he still has the mentality of "as long as it works" for his personal gadgets.
