South Korea expands espionage law to crack down on AI chip tech theft
S. Korea's new espionage law imposes 30 years severe prison terms, closing critical loopholes to deter foreign theft of core semiconductor and AI innovations
South Korea's newly expanded espionage law has officially taken effect, marking a major shift in how the country combats industrial theft.
The National Assembly passed the revised Criminal Act on February 26 after years of criticism that existing laws were ill-suited to punish technology and industrial espionage involving non-North Korean actors.
The amendment creates a new offence covering espionage for a foreign country or equivalent organization, carrying a minimum sentence of three years in prison.
As reported, the existing provisions for espionage benefiting an "enemy state" remain in place.
Under the previous law, espionage charges generally applied only to acts benefiting North Korea, forcing prosecutors in many cases involving foreign governments or companies to rely on other industrial technology or trade-secret laws.
Under the revised Criminal Act, espionage offenses are no longer restricted strictly to acts benefiting North Korea.
The updated framework now covers intelligence-sharing and secret-leaking directed toward any foreign country or equivalent organization, carrying a minimum sentence of three years in prison.
The legislative overhaul closes a decades-long legal loophole that historically forced prosecutors to rely on weaker trade-secret or industrial technology laws when foreign governments or non-North Korean entities were involved.
Supported heavily by the National Intelligence Service, the reform aims to fortify defenses around critical national assets, including advanced semiconductors, displays, secondary batteries, and artificial intelligence.
This tightening of national security laws follows a surge in high-profile corporate leaks, notably involving former semiconductor employees accused of transferring sensitive DRAM and memory chip data to overseas competitors.
The change follows high-profile technology leak cases, including the indictment last year of five former Samsung Electronics employees accused of transferring key dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chip technology to Chinese memory maker CXMT.
With South Korean police tracking dozens of overseas technology leakage attempts—the majority targeting the semiconductor sector.
The government has also elevated industrial espionage from a standard corporate crime to a critical threat against national economic security.
