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Ex-Samsung employees indicted over leak of state-designated tech to Chinese chipmaker

Published: 23 Dec. 2025, 20:09

The ChangXin Memory Technologies logo is seen in this illustration on Oct. 21. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Former employees of Samsung Electronics have been indicted on charges of leaking the company’s state-designated core technology to a Chinese dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chipmaker, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

The stolen technology, which Samsung developed as the first of its kind, is believed to have enabled ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) to become the first Chinese company and the fourth globally to mass-produce 10-nanometer-class DRAM. The resulting damage to the national economy is estimated to amount to at least tens of trillions of won.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it indicted five people, including former Samsung Electronics employees, under detention on charges of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act and the Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology. Another group of five individuals — some of them CXMT development team members — were indicted without detention on the same charges.

CXMT, China’s first and only DRAM semiconductor company, was established in 2016 with investments from local governments and semiconductor design firms. CXMT recruited a former Samsung Electronics department head to lead its first development team shortly after its founding, according to prosecutors.

Around September 2016, the former department head and other individuals — one reportedly a former Samsung researcher in charge of facility investment — allegedly obtained Samsung’s 18-nanometer DRAM process technology, classified as a national core technology and trade secret, through another former Samsung employee who had transferred to CXMT. The technology was then unlawfully used in DRAM development.

Investigators found that the employee copied hundreds of steps of 10-nanometer-class DRAM process technology by hand before transferring to CXMT and leaking the information.

The technology in question was the world’s only 10-nanometer-class DRAM process at the time, developed by Samsung after five years of research and an investment of 1.6 trillion won ($1.08 billion).

Samsung Electronics' headquarters in Seocho District, southern Seoul, is seen on Dec. 16. [YONHAP]

To obtain the proprietary technology, the former department head and others allegedly set up a shell company, frequently changed office locations and even created their own language to use as a code in case of potential travel bans or arrests.

Later, members of CXMT’s second development team, also led by a former Samsung Electronics executive, allegedly received the 18-nanometer DRAM process technology from the first team and modified and verified it to suit Chinese manufacturing equipment between February 2018 and early 2023 to develop DRAM chips.

Prosecutors also said CXMT cleanroom technicians illegally obtained DRAM process technology from SK hynix — another state-designated core technology — through one of the company’s subcontractors in June 2020.

Armed with key semiconductor technologies from both Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, CXMT ultimately succeeded in mass-producing 10-nanometer-class DRAM in 2023.

Based on changes in global market share, prosecutors estimate that Samsung Electronics’ revenue decline in 2024 alone could be 5 trillion won.

SK hynix's next-generation high bandwidth memory chips displayed at the 27th Semiconductor Exhibition held at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Oct. 22. [YONHAP]

“Considering the scale of the domestic semiconductor industry — which accounts for 20.8 percent of total exports — the damage to the national economy is expected to reach at least tens of trillions of won,” the prosecution said.

The investigation began in January 2024, when prosecutors, while investigating a separate case involving one of the former department heads and leaked semiconductor equipment technology, uncovered evidence that he had leaked other core technologies during his time at CXMT.

“Through a direct investigation, we uncovered and punished not only the technology leaks committed domestically but also [...] the development-related crimes carried out in China,” prosecutors said. “We will continue to respond strictly to overseas illegal technology leaks that threaten the national economy and technological security.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHO MUN-GYU [[email protected]]