South Korea announced on Monday that it will toughen penalties for stealing industrial secrets, citing concerns that current regulations are insufficient to deter attempts to funnel technologies from companies such as Samsung.
South Korea has been cracking down on technology leaks in recent months, as the country seeks to maintain its dwindling lead in memory chips and displays over competitors.
According to a statement released by the industry ministry on Monday, South Korea’s Sentencing Commission, which is under the direction of the Supreme Court of Korea, decided this month to toughen penalties and lengthen jail terms for disclosing South Korean technology. Details on the new sentencing guidelines are expected early next year.
China is believed to be the final destination of the majority of South Korean technology leaks, according to analysts. The industry ministry did not specify which nation it was targeting.
Although South Korea’s technology leak penalties are comparable to those in other nations, including jail terms of five years or more for technology leaks with “significant impact on national and economic security,” in practise sentencing falls short due to difficult-to-meet requirements, the industry ministry said.
Prior regulations required that prosecutors establish a suspect’s desire to divulge information before a crime could be classified as a core technology leak. In such cases before South Korean courts, this resulted in acquittal in 30% of cases and suspended sentences in 54% of cases, it said.
According to the ministry, a revised draft law that will be submitted to parliament will also include provisions to prevent technology leaks that are not currently regulated, such as leaks following the acquisition of a South Korean company by a foreign private equity fund.
South Korean police said in June that they had arrested 77 people in 35 cases of suspected industrial espionage during a four-month nationwide investigation.