Ex-Samsung exec in hot water again over chip tech leaks to China

According to a new report from Reuters, the Seoul Central District Court issued a new warrant to detain Choi Jinseog again on new allegations.

In July 2023, Choi was arrested for industrial espionage and released on bail in November.

However, in April 2024, a new investigation on Choi and one of his former employees — another ex-Samsung worker — regarding Samsung chip technologies reportedly kicked off over fresh allegations.

Considered a flight risk

Choi Jinseog's lawyer now confirmed via Reuters that the ex-Samsung exec is facing new allegations related to 20nm DRAM chip processing technologies developed by the Korean tech giant.

Although he has not yet been indicted over these new allegations, the Seoul Central District Court issued the warrant to detain Mr. Choi, as he was deemed a flight risk. The Court fears Choi might attempt to flee the country before the trial begins.

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During last year's trial, Choi Jinseog was accused of stealing technologies and factory plans from Samsung. The information Choi obtained and was attempting to sell to Samsung's competition was supposedly meant to help Foxconn build a new chip factory in China. However, Foxconn, Samoo Architects & Engineers, and HanmiGlobal have not been accused of any wrongdoings.

Before he was accused of industrial espionage last year, Choi Jinseog worked for Samsung for nearly two decades before leaving for SK Hynix in 2001. He helped Samsung develop DRAM memory chips.

In other recent news, Samsung is reportedly testing a new security system based on facial recognition to prevent its valuable trade secrets and technologies from leaking. However, this new and somewhat intrusive system isn't without issues and has received criticism from the labor union over privacy concerns.