Police had been watching Kim for months. As mentioned in the Yahoo report, the Industrial Technology Security Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency caught Kim and charged him with violating South Korea’s trade secrets and unfair competition laws. Early this year Kim resigned from SK hynix and stole important data according to the report by DigiTimes.
Prosecutors say Kim kept printed papers and photos of confidential company info. He even removed the SK hynix name and “confidential” labels from the documents. As mentioned in the Yahoo report, Kim had about 11,000 photos from his time at SK hynix, which he used in job applications to Chinese firms, including Huawei’s chip unit, HiSilicon.
The stolen information was mainly about HBM technology. More specifically, it included backend packaging methods and hybrid bonding techniques, according to the reports. HBM is important for making AI accelerators, so Chinese companies really want this tech. Kim’s case might be just one of many, there have been other tech leaks to China, like from Samsung.
South Korea already has strong laws against stealing semiconductor IP. People can be fined up to US$71,000 and sent to jail for up to 10 years. If the theft affects a strategic industry, punishments can be even more serious. Authorities in South Korea are now trying to make these laws even stronger, according to reports.
FAQs
Q1. Who was the man caught with SK hynix secrets?
He was a former subcontractor named Mr Kim.Q2. What kind of tech did Kim try to steal?
He tried to steal HBM chip technology used in AI.
