한국이 반도체 기술 도용에 대한 우려 속에서 첩보 및 기밀보호법을 강화했으며, ChangXin Memory (CXMT)와 중국 반도체 제조업체를 겨냥하고 있다.

South Korea will broaden its espionage law beginning September 13 to cover spying for foreign countries, closing a decades-old legal gap as concerns intensify over overseas theft of strategically important technologies, particularly semiconductors.

The revised Criminal Act introduces a new provision allowing authorities to prosecute individuals who obtain, collect, disclose, transfer, or broker national secrets for a foreign country or equivalent organization under its direction, instigation, or other communication. Those convicted under this provision face a minimum three-year prison sentence.

Previously, South Korea's espionage provisions primarily targeted activities on behalf of an "enemy state," a definition that in practice largely applied to North Korea. The amendment represents a significant expansion of the country's counterespionage framework at a time when Seoul faces growing concerns about overseas leakage of advanced technologies underpinning its export-driven economy.

Semiconductors have become particularly sensitive. South Korea is home to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, two of the world's largest memory chipmakers whose technologies have grown increasingly strategically important as global competition intensifies over artificial intelligence and advanced computing. South Korean police detected a record 33 cases of technology leakage overseas last year, with more than half involving China. Semiconductors emerged as the most frequently targeted industry.

One high-profile case involved former Samsung Electronics employees accused of transferring the company's 18-nanometer DRAM manufacturing technology to Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT). Prosecutors announced the indictment of 10 former Samsung employees in connection with the case last December. Concerns extend beyond major conglomerates to smaller suppliers of semiconductor materials, components, and equipment, which may possess sensitive manufacturing information while lacking resources to protect it adequately.

The revised espionage law provides prosecutors an additional legal tool for cases involving foreign entities, though it will not automatically classify every overseas technology leak as espionage. Prosecutors must establish that the information constitutes a national secret and demonstrate the required connection between the accused and a foreign country or equivalent organization. Technology leaks failing to meet this threshold can still be prosecuted under other laws, including the Industrial Technology Protection Act, which provides separate criminal penalties for leaking protected industrial technologies overseas.

The tougher legal framework emerges as competition over semiconductor technology intensifies between the United States and China and as artificial intelligence raises the strategic value of advanced memory chips. China called on South Korea to provide a fair and nondiscriminatory business environment for Chinese companies. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing has consistently required Chinese companies to comply with international rules and local laws when conducting overseas business, while calling on countries to safeguard normal investment and business activities.

For South Korea, the change represents a fundamental shift from a counterespionage system historically centered on North Korea toward one designed to address a broader range of foreign threats—including the loss of technologies increasingly regarded as strategic national assets.