Ex-Samsung employee gets longer sentence, heavy fine in tech leak retrial
Published: 23 Apr. 2026, 21:15
![Samsung Electronics' flag in front of the company's Seocho office in southern Seoul [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/23/6bce4d1b-862d-44a5-832d-b1c5e4fb55ef.jpg)
Samsung Electronics' flag in front of the company's Seocho office in southern Seoul [YONHAP]
A former Samsung Electronics employee was sentenced Thursday to six years and four months in prison for leaking key semiconductor technology to a Chinese company, a heavier sentence than in the previous ruling.
The former Samsung employee, identified by the surname Kim, was previously sentenced to a six-year prison term for an appellate ruling. However, the Seoul High Court handed down an additional four months, along with a fine of 200 million won ($135,000), on charges including violations of the Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology.
In earlier trials, both the first trial and appellate courts found Kim guilty only of the use of trade secrets, regarding the act of uploading confidential data to a server and leaking it overseas. They ruled that the act of disclosure among co-offenders was included within the act of use and therefore did not constitute a separate offense.
However, the Supreme Court determined that disclosure should be treated as a separate crime and remanded the case. The appellate court then found Kim guilty on all related charges.
“The act of transferring Samsung Electronics’ 18-nanometer DRAM semiconductor process technology — a core national technology — to a Chinese firm could render massive development costs futile and negatively affect national competitiveness,” the high court said in explaining its sentencing.
Prosecutors believe Kim leaked seven key process technology documents while moving to the Chinese company ChangXin Memory Technologies and received payments worth tens of billions of won in return.
Another defendant, identified by the surname Bang, a former employee of a partner firm who was indicted in the case, also received an additional three-month prison sentence after some previously acquitted charges were found guilty in the appellate trial.
“The nature of the crime is serious, as the defendant disclosed corporate trade secrets while being aware that they would be used overseas,” the court said.
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 PARK JONG-SUH [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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