Korea industry ministry unveils crackdown on technology leaks

South Korea's industry ministry said Monday it will expand the scope of its screening of foreign deals and give its officials police powers as part of a government-wide push to close gaps in the protection of core industrial technology.

The measures were agreed at the 76th Industrial Technology Protection Committee, chaired by Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Kim Jung-kwan, which brought in the national police, the serious-crimes investigation agency, the prosecution service and the defense procurement agency alongside the committee's standing members.

The plan comes after the National Assembly audit pressed the government to tighten its handling of technology leaks, including the overseas job-hopping of semiconductor engineers. The number of overseas technology leaks detected by the National Intelligence Service stood at 19 last year, compared with 23 in 2024 and 23 in 2023.

The government will designate technologies in need of protection as national core technologies sooner and widen the transactions subject to review, bringing sales or withdrawal of overseas subsidiaries and foreign acquisitions of Korean companies or organizations within the screening net. Small and mid-sized companies and universities will face more frequent and more detailed inspections, and the government will create a legal basis for ordering corrective action from companies that fail to comply.

To slow the departure of key talent in semiconductors and other advanced industries, the government will look for ways to improve the system while keeping any infringement of the constitutional right to choose a career to a minimum, with incentives and job-change verification information under consideration.

Penalties will be made to bite harder than the gains from a leak. The government will widen the scope of criminal proceeds subject to confiscation and collection, and will require that compensation include at least the cost the victimized company spent developing the technology.

The industry ministry will also be granted special judicial police authority to investigate technology leaks. The government will campaign publicly for higher sentencing guidelines and new fine guidelines at the Supreme Court.

The measures will be written into amendments to the Industrial Technology Protection Act and the National Advanced Strategic Industry Act for introduction within October, and into the sixth comprehensive industrial technology protection plan, being prepared a year ahead of schedule for release before the end of the year.

"Technology leaks are a grave matter that can bring down in a moment the industrial competitiveness that the state and companies have built up over long years and at enormous cost, and they even threaten national security, so they can never be treated lightly," Kim said. "The government will carry out the introduction of the amendment bills and the announcement of the comprehensive plan without disruption and will certainly protect the country's industrial technology."