Following worries that the country’s current regulations were insufficient to thwart attempts to smuggle innovations from firms like Samsung, South Korea announced on Monday that it would toughen the penalties for stealing industrial secrets.
In recent months, South Korea has intensified its efforts to stop technology leaks as it tries to hold onto its narrowing competitive advantage in memory chips and displays.
According to a statement released by the industry ministry on Monday, South Korea’s Sentencing Commission, which is under the direction of the Supreme Court of Korea, agreed this month to toughen penalties and increase jail terms for disclosing South Korean technology. Early next year is when the revised sentencing guidelines’ specifics are anticipated.
The industry ministry did not specify which countries it was aiming at, but according to analysts, the majority of South Korean technology leaks are likely to end up in China.
Although South Korea’s technology leak penalties are comparable to those in other nations, including jail terms of five years or more for technology leaks with “significant impact on national and economic security,” in practise sentencing falls short due to difficult-to-meet requirements, the industry ministry said.
In order for a behaviour to be sanctioned as a core technology leak, prior regulations required prosecutors to demonstrate a suspect’s intent to leak secrets. According to the report, this resulted in acquittals in 30% and suspended sentences in 54% of these cases before South Korean courts.
A revised draught law that will be presented to parliament will also contain provisions to prevent technological leaks that had not previously been controlled, such as those that occur after a foreign private equity firm acquires a South Korean company, the ministry announced.
In 35 cases of suspected industrial espionage over the previous four months, South Korean police reported in June that they had detained 77 people.
