Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
Samsung’s subcontractor nabbed for display tech leak
By Yi Whan-woo
Police have booked the CEO and four employees of AP Systems, a subcontractor of Samsung Display, Thursday, for allegedly leaking patent-protected technology to an overseas company.
The Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency said the 49-year-old CEO, surnamed Jung and his workers are suspected of handing over the assembly line layout for active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) panels to a firm in China.
“The amount of possible financial damage is unknown yet, but we’ll find this out through an investigation,” an officer at the industrial espionage investigation unit of the agency said.
The suspects including the employees, whose names were not disclosed, allegedly leaked the advanced display technology used in mobile devices, computer monitors, and televisions to win a contract with the Chinese display panel manufacturer in October 2011. AP Systems, however, failed to win, according to police.
The subcontractor based in Dongtan, Gyeonggi Province, has worked with Samsung Display, the world’s No. 1 maker of the AMOLED panels, for the past four years to develop a manufacturing process called Excimer Laser Annealing (ELA).
The affiliate of Samsung Electronics invested 50 billion won ($45 million) in research and development alone for ELA that uses a laser beam to manufacture AMOLED panels out of ultra-low-temperature polycrystallin silicon.
The Ministry of Knowledge and Economy, which governs patent rights, designated ELA as a “cutting-edge technology” in 2010.
The subcontractor had an exclusive contract with Samsung Display and supplied goods worth 140 billion won ($127 million) since Feb. 2010.
However, it recently sought to advance into China, according to police.
“We’ve begun looking into the case after an informant tipped us off about the technology leak. And we requested police investigate it,” a public relations staffer at Samsung Display said.
“We’ll take enhanced security measures to protect our technologies and will be strict about anyone who tries to leak them,” she said.
The AMOLED panel industry is dominated by Korea, but China is also trying to become a major player in the global market.