Ex-Samsung Researcher Accused of Leaking Secrets to China, Over 200 Workers Migrate

The police have requested an arrest warrant for a former Samsung Electronics researcher accused of leaking Samsung’s crucial semiconductor technology to a Chinese company.

According to law enforcement and other sources, it was confirmed on the 15th that the police had applied for an arrest warrant for Mr. A, a former senior researcher at Samsung Electronics.

The police suspect that Mr. A shared Samsung Electronics’ 20-nanometer-class DRAM technology, known as “Boltzmann,” which the company had independently developed in 2014, with the Chinese semiconductor firm Chengdu Gaojeon located in Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

Authorities are also investigating suspicions that Chengdu Gaojeon has hired many domestic experts. It was reported that the police uncovered evidence suggesting that companies had been luring employees away from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix at Chengdu Gaojeon’s request while conducting searches of three consulting firms and two headhunting firms in Gyeonggi Province last October. More than 200 individuals, including 110 from Samsung Electronics and 90 from SK Hynix, are believed to have relocated to China.

Chengdu Gaojeon is a company established by Mr. Choi, a former executive at Samsung Electronics and a vice president at Hynix, with an investment of approximately 460 billion won (US$345 million) from Chengdu City in 2001. It has been revealed that Mr. A currently holds a key executive position in charge of semiconductor process design at this company.

Mr. A is also accused of leaking a technical process that includes around 700 semiconductor manufacturing procedures. It was reported that the police obtained this process during a search of Mr. A’s residence last year.

During the police investigation, Mr. A denied the allegations, claiming he had created the process himself.

The police are concentrating their investigative efforts on the suspicion that Mr. A and Mr. Choi were involved in leaking advanced 18-nanometer DRAM core technology, which is more advanced than the 20-nanometer technology, to China. The substantive review of the warrant application for Mr. A will take place at the Seoul Central District Court on the 16th.