Ex-Samsung employees sentenced to jail for leaking tech to China

Former employees of a Samsung Electronics subsidiary have reportedly been sentenced to 18 months in prison by the Seoul Central District Court for leaking information to a company in China. The latter company used the leaked information to develop semiconductor manufacturing technologies at a new factory it built specifically for the task.

The convicted employees worked for SEMES, a Samsung Electronics subsidiary, for over a decade. According to the court, the ex-employees stole technology necessary to manufacture 14 semiconductor cleaners from March 2018 to December 2021. The equipment was sold to a Chinese company for 71 billion won ($54 million).

The company used the 14 semiconductor cleaners to remove contaminants in the process of semiconductor substrate pattern formation at a new factory it had built in Cheonan. (via Business Korea) The Chinese firm's name and the number of ex-SEMES employees sentenced to 18 months in prison were unspecified.

SEMES is a Samsung Electronics chip fab equipment subsidiary. It had a successful 2021, posting 3.12 trillion won in revenue and 353.3 billion won in operating profit, up year-on-year by 41% and 24%, respectively. According to industry reports, SEMES is enjoying high demand for etching equipment, although it's interesting to note that it focused primarily on cleaners up to around mid-2010.

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Mihai Matei - Senior Editor

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First Samsung device: SGH-A800

Mihai is a blogger and column writer at SamMobile. His first Samsung phone was an A800 which took a lot of beating, and a part of him still misses the novelty of the clamshell design. In his free time, he enjoys watching shows, documentaries, and stand-up comedy; listening to music, taking walks, and occasionally playing old(er) video games.

Via Business General Samsung Electronics Samsung Foundry Samsung Semiconductor