Former Samsung executives indicted over China DRAM leak

Ten people, including a former Samsung Electronics executive, have been put on trial for allegedly leaking to China state core technology related to 10-nanometer-class DRAM, which Samsung Electronics was the first in the world to develop. Prosecutors said the suspects acted in an organized manner, sharing internal behavioral guidelines and coded messages to evade law enforcement scrutiny.

The Information Technology Crime Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, headed by Chief Prosecutor Kim Yoon-yong, said on Dec. 23 that it indicted five people, including a 58-year-old former Samsung Electronics department head surnamed Kim, under detention, while indicting another five without detention. The defendants face charges under the Industrial Technology Protection Act for the overseas leakage of state core technologies, as well as under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act for the overseas disclosure of trade secrets.

Kim and the others are accused of illegally obtaining, beginning in 2016, process information for 18-nanometer DRAM that Samsung Electronics developed first in the world after investing 1.6 trillion won over five years, and of passing the technology to China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT. Prosecutors said that a former Samsung Electronics researcher surnamed Jeon, 57, played a key role by hand-copying hundreds of individual process steps and leaking them abroad. Using the stolen materials, CXMT succeeded in 2023 in mass-producing 10-nanometer-class DRAM, marking the first such achievement by a Chinese company.

Investigators also determined that technology from SK hynix was leaked as part of the scheme. Another suspect surnamed Kim, 56, who was in charge of cleanroom processes at CXMT, was indicted for illegally obtaining DRAM process information in June 2020 through a partner company of SK hynix. Prosecutors said the information constituted both a state core technology and a trade secret. They estimate that Samsung Electronics alone suffered an estimated 5 trillion won decline in revenue last year due to the leak and warned that total damage to the national economy could ultimately reach tens of trillions of won.

The suspects’ methods bore the hallmarks of a spy thriller. Prosecutors said they established shell companies, changed office locations on a regular basis, and shared internal instructions urging members to act as if the National Intelligence Service and other authorities were constantly monitoring them. They also planned for emergencies, including travel bans or arrests, by agreeing to alert one another through a coded message made up of four heart symbols.

A prosecution official said authorities would continue to respond firmly to crimes involving the overseas leakage of industrial technologies that pose serious threats to the national economy and technological security.


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