Court Testimony: How a Chinese Firm with No Labs Started by Stealing Samsung Data

A court testimony has revealed that ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), a major Chinese semiconductor company, sought to develop DRAM from its early stages by stealing Samsung Electronics' core technology.

During a trial held at the Seoul Central District Court on the 11th, a former Samsung Electronics employee surnamed Jeon, who later moved to CXMT, appeared as a witness and testified, "When CXMT was established in 2016, its management, including the CEO and CTO, attempted to develop DRAM by leaking Samsung Electronics' process information, known as PRP."

Jeon reportedly testified that "at the time, CXMT had neither research institutes nor facilities, and had no intention of developing technology through its own research."

PRP refers to Samsung Electronics' core technical data containing about 600 process steps and equipment conditions necessary for DRAM manufacturing.

Prosecutors, who investigated the case from January 2024 to December of last year, believe that Samsung Electronics' 18-nanometer DRAM process technology—developed over five years at a cost of 1.6 trillion won—was leaked to CXMT.

The prosecution concluded that CXMT succeeded in mass-producing 10-nanometer-class DRAM by recruiting former Samsung Electronics executives and employees, and then modifying and verifying the leaked process information to fit local facilities.

Consequently, prosecutors indicted 10 CXMT development personnel, including Jeon, who were involved in leaking technology from Samsung Electronics to CXMT on charges of violating national core technology leakage laws.

Jeon, who previously worked at Samsung Electronics for 28 years, was indicted for illegally acquiring and using Samsung Electronics' 18-nanometer DRAM process technology after moving to CXMT.

Jeon was sentenced to seven years in prison in the first trial last April, as calls grow louder to strengthen penalties for the leakage of national core technologies.

(Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Kim Na-on | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.