[Man Sentenced to 1.5 Years in Second Trial for Leaking SK Hynix Trade Secrets to Chinese Companies] BlockBeats News, August 9: According to Yonhap News Agency, a former employee of SK Hynix's local subsidiary in China, identified as Mr. Kim, was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison in a second trial for leaking the company's trade secrets to Chinese companies. Reports indicate that in 2022, Mr. Kim violated company security regulations in order to switch jobs to Chinese companies such as Huawei's subsidiary HiSilicon. He printed or photographed a large amount of advanced technology and trade secret materials related to CIS (CMOS Image Sensors) from the company's internal document management system and included some of this information directly in his resume, which he submitted to Chinese companies, thereby completing the act of leaking the information. Prosecutors charged him with violating the Industrial Technology Protection Act, the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, and breach of trust in business. The first trial court found him guilty of leaking trade secrets and sentenced him to 1 year and 6 months in prison. However, it ruled him not guilty on charges related to Hybrid Bonding technology, as this technology had not yet been classified as advanced technology under the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy's official list at the time. Recently, the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 10-1 upheld the original verdict in the second trial, stating that Mr. Kim had leaked a significant amount of trade secrets and submitted them to Chinese companies in the form of a resume, which constituted a serious offense. The court emphasized that the leaked materials were the result of years of research and development by the victimized company. It warned that leniency in such cases would undermine corporate motivation for technological development and make it easier for foreign competitors to steal South Korean technology through talent recruitment. The court also took into account that Mr. Kim had fully confessed and that most of the leaked materials had been recovered, and therefore did not impose a harsher sentence. [Original Link]