Two former Samsung officials have been arrested by South Korean authorities on the suspicion that that they worked together with local Chinese officials to steal chipmaking technology. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency stated that the persons involved stole more than KRW4.3 trillion (~RM13.89 billion) to build a copycat chipmaking plant in China.
As to how this was done, the agency said that one of the two, 66-year-old Choi, recruited South Korean chip experts and leaked Samsung memory technologies through a Chinese joint venture called Chengdu Gaozhen. Choi served as the JV’s chief while a plant designer named Oh aided them in this scheme.
This case seems to be quite similar to one from 2023, where a former Samsung exec was caught stealing blueprints to try and replicate a semiconductor plant in China. South Korea is a key ally to the U.S. as part of its effort to slow down China’s technological ambitions.
The arrested duo had apparently worked together with official to produce 20nm DRAM chips last year, which the police claim damaged Samsung and weakened South Korea’s competitiveness amidst a global chip war. While the probe had successfully crippled the operation, the police are still investigating further leaks.
(Source: Samsung)
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