Former SK Hynix employee jailed in South Korea for leaking information to a Chinese firm

A former employee of South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for leaking crucial manufacturing technology to a Chinese company. The Seoul High Court upheld the lower court's ruling in an appeal case, confirming the sentence for the violation.

The leaked information specifically concerned classified details about CMOS image sensors. This technology is vital for non-memory chips, commonly found in smartphone cameras and laptop devices. The incident occurred in 2022, when the employee, who had previously been stationed at SK Hynix's office in China, illicitly obtained and disseminated the trade secrets.

According to reports, the court determined that the employee had printed out or photographed documents containing these trade secrets, which were downloaded from the company's internal server. This action constituted a clear violation of SK Hynix's stringent security protocols. The defendant reportedly admitted to all charges, and most of the stolen information has since been recovered by the company.