Nearly 40% of Korean industrial-technology IP theft incidents involve semiconductors, highlighting espionage and talent-poaching risks in chip design and fabrication.

Semiconductor IP theft threatens fab capacity secrets and custom ASIC designs critical to AI infrastructure; nations with aggressive IP enforcement and Korean firms with robust defenses may gain competitive advantage and margin protection.

업계 전문지Slicast · 2026년 9월 27일 01:41 UTC · 미국 · 출처: The Korea Times

중요도 60

Korea's spy agency has detected more than 100 cases of industrial technology leaks overseas over the past five years, with semiconductors accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total, according to data submitted to the National Assembly.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) detected 107 cases of overseas industrial technology leaks between 2021 and 2025, according to data submitted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources. Semiconductor technologies accounted for the largest share with 40 cases, followed by display technologies with 21 cases, and electrical and electronics technologies with 10 cases. Seven cases involved automotive technologies, while six involved shipbuilding technologies.

Of the 107 cases, 31 involved national core technologies—those designated by the government as critical to national security and the economy due to their technological and economic value or growth potential. Semiconductors accounted for the largest share of these critical leaks, with nine cases, followed by displays and electrical and electronics technologies, with five cases each.

One notable case involved a former Samsung Electronics manager who allegedly leaked the Korean chipmaker's 18-nanometer DRAM manufacturing technology, designated as a national core technology, to Chinese chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies.

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