"Handing Everything Over to China for a Life-Changing Turn"... Sudden Blow After Spending 30 Billion Won

A former employee who leaked core technology developed by a domestic semiconductor company over 10 years with an investment of more than 30 billion won to a Chinese competitor has been sentenced to 2 years and 4 months in prison.

While cutting-edge technologies leaking overseas are increasing year by year, criticism continues that actual court sentences remain lenient.

Founded in 1976, the domestic company Fecotec produces capillaries, components used in semiconductor assembly.

Capillaries are components used when connecting metal wires one-fifth the thickness of a human hair to semiconductor chips, and they are also used in HBM production.

Fecotec invested more than 30 billion won over 10 years to develop the related technology and currently holds over 70 percent of the global capillary market.

However, a former employee surnamed Kim, who worked at the company for 17 years, was sent to trial on charges of taking a USB containing capillary-related process information out of the company when moving to a Chinese competitor last year.

Kim was an employee dispatched to a China factory who oversaw component production.

It was revealed that even after confirming the move to the Chinese company, Kim received related materials from former colleagues, including defective product reports, competitor product comparative analysis, and production status reports.

The first-instance court sentenced Kim to 2 years and 6 months in prison in November of last year, but the sentence was reduced to 2 years and 4 months in an appellate trial last May.

The reduction took into account factors such as the fact that some of the leaked materials were documents that company employees could view and print.

Overseas leakage cases of cutting-edge technology have been growing rapidly in recent years.

Technology overseas leakage cases referred by the police to the prosecution increased from 9 cases in 2021 to 33 cases last year.

Among the 103 cases uncovered over the past 5 years, attempts to leak technology to China accounted for 66 cases, or 64 percent.

By sector, there were 28 cases in displays and 18 cases in semiconductors.

The National Intelligence Service estimated the damage amount from cutting-edge technology leakage crimes that occurred from 2020 to 2024 to be approximately 23 trillion won.

Amid a series of technology leakage crimes, the Supreme Court Sentencing Commission established sentencing guidelines in 2024 to raise the recommended sentence for crimes leaking national core technologies overseas to up to 18 years in prison, but it is known that slaps-on-the-wrist remain prevalent in actual cases.

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Lee Eui-sun | Graphics by Lee Sumin | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.