Former Samsung engineer sent to prison for leaking OLED tech to China

A former Samsung engineer was sentenced to six years in prison for leaking $24.5 million worth of OLED technology to China.

Samsung Display's booth showcases its QD-OLED screen at the 2022 K-Display (Korea Display Exhibition) held at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. [SAMSUNG DISPLAY]

A Suwon court sentenced a former Samsung Display engineer to six years in prison Thursday for leaking 340 billion won ($24.5 million) worth of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology to China. The lower court found the former senior researcher guilty of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act. The researcher had been on trial, but out on bail, pending the expiration of their arrest in March this year, and was taken into custody and sentenced on Thursday.

“The accused party has wrongly used technology that the company has invested large amounts of money over long periods of time to develop, which is highly condemnable,” Judge Ha Sang-je said of his ruling.

“Strict punishment is required to protect the country’s advanced technology. There have been no circumstances relayed that have been reasonable enough to take into consideration to suspend the accused party’s sentence.”

The former employee was indicted in October of last year on charges of illegally obtaining optical systems for excimer laser annealing (ELA) technology used in the production of Samsung’s OLED displays as well as technology used for OCR inkjets — which are used to attach outer cover glass to OLED panels — to sell to Chinese firms between 2018 to 2020.

The optical systems for ELA technology are used to maintain stable strength levels as well as ensure safety when using lasers on OLED displays' electronic circuits. An investigation agency says the trade secrets used in the technology amount to at least worth 340 billion won.

The former employee sentenced on Thursday was an OLED expert who worked at Samsung Display for over 10 years. After leaving the conglomerate, they founded a display company in Korea and another in China. The former researcher was found to have smuggled Samsung’s OLED display technology to their domestic firm and attempted to sell or otherwise provide the technology to Chinese companies through their business in China.

Former subordinates, juniors and friends of the accused, who was found to have persuaded them to join in the crime, would provide trade secrets to the domestic company, where the technology would be duplicated.

Five people who worked with the accused were indicted in August 2020. Of the five, three Samsung Display employees were sentenced for between one and two years, while two friends were handed suspended sentences.

The convict turned themselves in last May, three years after escaping to China. Prosecutors resumed investigation following their and first took them into custody in September.

“The advanced technology that had been accumulated by the victim company by investing large sums of investment over a long period of time was wrongly used for personal matters, making this criminal case highly condemnable; furthermore, it has contributed to a great loss for the nation, which is why the accused has been sentenced to a heavy punishment,” the prosecution said in a statement following the sentencing.

“Prosecution will continue to strictly deal with the criminal act of leaking industrial technology that threatens companies’ livelihoods and the nation’s economy,” they added.

BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]