Korea Intellectual Property Office seeks wider powers to investigate tech leaks

The Korea Intellectual Property Office said it will push to widen the investigative powers of its technology police to cover leaks of national core and advanced strategic technologies, saying a revamp of the criminal justice system has left a gap in how such cases are handled.

The office said it will move quickly on an amendment to the Act on the Persons Performing the Duties of Judicial Police Officers and the Scope of Their Duties. Its technology police currently handle only patent and trade secret infringement cases and have no authority to investigate offenses under related laws such as the Industrial Technology Protection Act. About 81.8 percent of the overseas trade secret leak suspects its technology police referred for prosecution also faced charges under the Industrial Technology Protection Act or the Act on National Advanced Strategic Industries, and those accompanying suspicions now have to be handed to other agencies, which the office said risks delays and charges being dropped.

Technology leak cases demand technical expertise from the moment a search warrant is drawn up through evidence analysis and the proving of charges. The office cited a 2025 study by the Judicial Policy Research Institute that identified a poor understanding of technology as a leading reason such cases are hard to try.

"Advanced technology leaks are serious crimes that threaten national economic security and industrial competitiveness, going beyond the damage done to individual companies," office chief Kim Yong-sun said. "We will swiftly overhaul the relevant laws so that no gap opens in technology leak investigations during the reorganization of the criminal justice system, and respond quickly and effectively to core technology leak crimes based on the expertise of the technology police."

The office said investigations by its technology police have blocked more than 10 trillion won ($7.46 billion) in economic damage, including the arrest of suspects in the overseas leak of national advanced strategic technology in secondary batteries and national core technology in semiconductors, and the arrest of a suspect who copied the design of a well-known sunglasses product.

Several amendment bills widening the technology police's investigative scope have already been introduced in the National Assembly. They include bills sponsored by Rep. Park Kyun-taek on Jan. 15, Rep. Seo Il-jun on April 1, Rep. Kim Sang-hoon on Aug. 20 and Rep. Heo Seong-moo on Sept. 10.