South Korean prosecutors have arrested and indicted a former executive of Samsung Electronics suspected of stealing trade secrets while attempting to establish a copycat computer chip plant in China.

The Suwon District Prosecutors91裸聊视频� Office said Monday that the unnamed 65-year-old unlawfully obtained Samsung91裸聊视频檚 factory blueprints and clean-room designs from 2018 and 2019 while trying, unsuccessfully, to replicate a chip factory in the Chinese city of Xi91裸聊视频檃n, near where Samsung operates a plant.

The technology allegedly stolen by the man91裸聊视频檚 China-based company would have been worth at least 300 billion won ($233 million) for Samsung, prosecutors said. They charged six people employed by the man with 91裸聊视频渁ctive participation91裸聊视频� in the tech theft.

South Korea is highly sensitive to breaches of technologies related to semiconductors, which accounted for nearly 17% of its total exports in 2022. Samsung, the world91裸聊视频檚 largest manufacturer of computer memory chips, didn91裸聊视频檛 immediately comment on the charges.

In a statement, prosecutors described the arrested man as an 91裸聊视频渦ndisputed top domestic expert in semiconductor manufacturing.91裸聊视频� After an 18-year career at Samsung he held executive roles for a decade at SK Hynix, another major South Korean chip maker which trails Samsung in the memory chip market.

The man later created chip manufacturing companies in China and Singapore with the backing of Chinese and Taiwanese investors and lured more than 200 chip experts from Samsung and Hynix with higher pay before arranging to smuggle out crucial technologies from Samsung, prosecutors said.

The manufacturing secrets allegedly taken from Samsung included processing blueprints and 91裸聊视频渂asic engineering data91裸聊视频� for designing clean-room environments to prevent contamination during semiconductor manufacturing, which prosecutors described as 91裸聊视频渃ore national technologies.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淭he suspect 91裸聊视频� attempted to duplicate an entire (Samsung) factory to manufacture and mass-produce semiconductors in China,91裸聊视频� said the prosecutors91裸聊视频� office, who described his crime as incomparable in damage and scale to previous theft cases.

It said South Korea91裸聊视频檚 semiconductor industry would have been 91裸聊视频渋rreversibly damaged91裸聊视频� and the country91裸聊视频檚 security interests greatly compromised if the factory was actually built and produced chips similar to Samsung91裸聊视频檚 products.

Kim Tong-hyung, The Associated Press

Like us on and follow us on .