Hynix Chief Denies Tech Leak
By Park Si-soo, Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporters
Hynix Semiconductor has denied leaking technology and pledged a court battle over the allegation, the company's chief executive said.
"We didn't use any of Samsung Electronics' copper-based processing technology in our memory lines. Hynix is confident we will be cleared of such allegations in court," CEO Kim Jong-kap told The Korea Times, Wednesday.
The remarks came after the prosecution had senior officials of a U.S.-based semiconductor equipment firm and Hynix arrested on suspicion of leaking technologies created by Samsung Electronics over the past several years.
Prosecutors said a mid-level Samsung Electronics engineer was also arrested and another one was placed on a wanted list for being involved in the crime.
According to the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, two employees of Applied Materials Korea (AMK) Semiconductor's Seoul office, including its vice president, were arrested on allegations of leaking information regarding Samsung's memory chip making process beginning March 2005.
Eight other employees of the world's biggest chip equipment supplier were also booked for being involved in the crime.
The AMK workers under investigation were known to have obtained classified documents from the suspected Samsung workers while visiting the company's factories to install and maintain equipment, prosecutors said.
The alleged leaks include information on Samsung's copper-based manufacturing process for PC and flash memory, prosecutors said. The prosecutors noted that 13 out of a total of 95 core technology items were allegedly leaked to Hynix.
"This case reveals that while memory chip makers have maintained tight security against competitors, business partners such as equipment companies have had relatively easy access to trade secrets," said Lee Choong-hee, a prosecutor familiar with the case.
In a separate statement, Hynix Semiconductor said it experiences a significant time gap between acquiring information and manufacturing, adding that it doesn't make sense that copper processing technology is regarded as a "next generation technology."