Ex-Samsung officials sent to prosecution for alleged tech leaks

Two former Samsung Electronics officials arrested for stealing the chip giant's trade secrets and human resources to build a copycat chip plant in China have been transferred to the prosecution for possible indictment, police said Tuesday.

Samsung Electronics' office building in Seocho District, southern Seoul [YONHAP]

Two former Samsung Electronics officials arrested for stealing the chip giant's trade secrets and human resources to build a copycat chip plant in China have been transferred to the prosecution for possible indictment, police said Tuesday.

The two are identified as the chief of Chengdu Gaozhen (CHJS), surnamed Choi, 66, and the Chinese company's chief plant designer, surnamed Oh, 60, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) said. Choi previously served as an executive at Samsung Electronics and the predecessor of SK hynix, while Oh was a senior researcher at Samsung.

Choi, who set up a joint semiconductor company with a Chinese local government in September 2020, is accused of leaking and misusing Samsung's core memory semiconductor technologies after recruiting a large number of Korean chip experts, including Oh.

Choi allegedly stole core technologies developed by Samsung with a goal of manufacturing 20-nanometer dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) semiconductors and produced basic products in April 2022. Oh is accused of playing a key role in the alleged technology theft after moving to CHJS.

The SMPA estimated the economic value of the leaked Samsung technologies at 4.3 trillion won ($3.2 billion). The police agency said it was also investigating whether there were additional technology leaks by other former Samsung employees who moved to CHJS.

Yonhap