Former Samsung executives are arrested for stealing confidential information to copy the entire semiconductor factory
A 65-year-old man named Choi, who worked as an executive at Samsung and SK Hynix, the two major semiconductor manufacturers in South Korea, stole confidential information such as factory blueprints to build a semiconductor factory in China. He was arrested and indicted by South Korean prosecutors on suspicion of violating the law and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.
Ex-Samsung exec indicted for stealing trade secrets to build copycat plant in China | Yonhap News Agency
Ex-Samsung Exec Accused of Building Copycat Chip Plant in China - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-12/ex-samsung-exec-accused-of-building-copycat-chip-plant-in-china
Ex-Samsung executive alleged to have stolen tech to recreate chip plant in China | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/06/ex-samsung-executive-alleged-to-have-stolen-tech-to-recreate-chip-plant-in-china/
How a Chip Guru Left South Korea and Wound Up Accused of Leaking Tech to China - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-a-chip-guru-left-south-korea-and-wound-up-accused-of-leaking-tech-to-china-9cf145b1
According to South Korean prosecutors, Choi illegally obtained sensitive data from 2018 to 2019, including basic optical data from chip factories, process layouts, and semiconductor and factory blueprints. In addition, we were trying to build a semiconductor factory that copied the entire Samsung factory just 1.5 km away from Samsung's memory chip factory in Xi'an, Shaanxi, western China.
After working for Samsung for 19 years, defendant Choi worked for Hynix Semiconductor (Hynix Semiconductor, later SK Hynix) and helped the company rebuild, which was in financial difficulties at the time. In 2009, he was awarded the Order of Industrial Merit by the government for his achievements in reducing the cost of chip production. He eventually became CTO (Chief Technology Officer), but left the company in 2010.
After that, Choi founded multiple semiconductor companies in China and Singapore and raised funds from Chinese and Taiwanese investors.
According to South Korean media Yonhap News, a Taiwanese investment company had signed a contract to invest about 6.2 billion dollars (about 860 billion yen) in a company established by the defendant, but the contract was broken and the man was killed. Failed to set up factory. Some have pointed out that this Taiwanese company is Hon Hai Precision Industry, but Hon Hai has not commented on the matter.
In addition, Choi received an investment of 460 billion won (about 50 billion yen) from a Chinese investor, and based on this investment and information illegally obtained from Samsung, a factory in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Established. It seems that they have already succeeded in producing prototypes.
by Jeff Keyzer
The news site The Elec reported in October 2020 that ``a former Hynix executive is trying to buy a GlobalFoundaries factory.''
Ex-Hynix execs in China to buy GlobalFoundaries factory - THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media
https://thelec.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=1660
This factory was established in 2018, but due to the economic friction between the United States and China, it stopped production in May 2020 without producing 300mm wafers as originally planned.
Defendant Choi also established a company in Sichuan Province and pulled out about 200 employees from Samsung and SK Hynix. It is reported that the accused instructed the extracted employee to obtain trade secrets, and Samsung was reportedly damaged by an estimated $ 230 million (about 32 billion yen). In addition, a total of six employees, one employee of Samsung's subcontractor and five employees of the company founded by the man, were also indicted at home on suspicion of conspiring with the man.
The authorities say, ``This incident is not just a leak of semiconductor technology, but an attempt to copy the entire semiconductor factory. . Economic newspaper Bloomberg commented, ``This incident may ignite tensions between China, which has ambitions for semiconductor manufacturing, and the United States, South Korea, and Taiwan, which are trying to suppress it.''
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