Appeals court sentences Chinese ex-SK hynix worker to 5 years in prison for technology leak
The Suwon District Court and Suwon High Court / Korea Times file
An appeals court on Wednesday sentenced a Chinese former employee of SK hynix to five years in prison for leaking the company's core semiconductor technology.
The Suwon High Court handed down the sentence, along with a 30 million won ($21,500) fine, to the 37-year-old defendant for leaking company secrets by printing out some 4,000 pages of material on solutions to semiconductor manufacturing problems, shortly before transferring to Chinese technology firm Huawei in 2022.
"With high technological and economic value, the material is considered core state technology and includes business secrets with large repercussions at the national level," the court said.
"These types of crimes jeopardize the survivability of domestic companies and have a negative impact on the country's industrial competitiveness," it added.
During the initial trial last year, a district court had sentenced the defendant to 1 1/2 years in prison and a fine of 20 million won.