Industry ministry convenes interagency technology protection policy council

The industry ministry said Tuesday it convened a policy meeting with government agencies to strengthen safeguards for industrial technology, as leakage routes expanded from company employees to business partners and AI and cloud services.

The ministry said concerns have grown that South Korea's key technologies could become targets as major countries increasingly weaponize advanced technology for national-security purposes.

The council, whose participants included officials from the science, justice and SMEs ministries, the Intellectual Property Office, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the National Police Agency, reviewed South Korea's technology-protection system and options for responding to leaks.

Officials discussed support and oversight for small and medium-sized companies, universities and research institutes, which are particularly vulnerable to technology-security risks. They also considered economic penalties such as confiscation, recovery of gains and damages after criticism that existing criminal and financial sanctions have failed to deter leaks effectively.

The government will turn the talks into detailed tasks for a sixth master plan on industrial technology protection covering 2027 through 2029. It is preparing the plan a year earlier than planned because of the rapidly changing environment for technology leaks.

Yang Gi-uk, head of the ministry's Office of Industrial Resources Security, said, "Industrial technology is a core strategic asset embodying the efforts of the state, companies and talent, and must be protected from an industrial-security perspective." He added, "For technology leaks, we will mobilize national capabilities as one team from policy formulation through investigations and court rulings, and respond sternly under the principle of making an example of offenders."