Assemblyman Kim Won Proposes Bill to Prevent Industrial Technology Leaks... "Tougher Punishment for Industrial Spies"

Protecting Advanced Technologies Through Stronger Penalties

Kim Won, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea, introduced a bill to strengthen penalties for technology leaks by industrial spies.

Assemblyman Kim Won of the Democratic Party of Korea has sponsored a package of amendment bills to prevent the recurring crime of advanced industrial technology leaks.

Assemblyman Kim stated that, in order to enhance the effectiveness of penalties for crimes involving the leakage of national core technologies and national advanced strategic technologies in cutting-edge industries such as semiconductors and bio, he has introduced the so-called "two laws on preventing industrial technology leaks": the Partial Amendment to the Special Measures Act on the Enhancement of Competitiveness and Protection of National Advanced Strategic Industries, and the Partial Amendment to the Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology.

Recently, cases of technology leaks in advanced industries have been repeatedly uncovered, but critics have consistently pointed out that the level of punishment is too low to provide sufficient deterrence. In fact, while prison sentences for technology leak crimes are on the rise, the average sentence length remains low, and there is criticism that penalties are significantly weaker compared to major countries such as the United States.

Under the current National Advanced Strategic Industries Act, the leakage of strategic technologies is punishable by imprisonment for at least 5 years or a fine of up to 2 billion won (KRW). However, Assemblyman Kim judged that this penalty framework is insufficient to have a preventive effect on crime. Accordingly, the amendment raises the statutory sentence to imprisonment for at least 7 years or a fine of up to 10 billion won (KRW), thereby strengthening the protection of national industrial competitiveness.

The amendment also introduces a new provision to allow punishment from the stage of preparation and conspiracy, and establishes grounds for confiscating and collecting criminal proceeds obtained through technology leaks, in order to enhance the effectiveness of the system.

The concurrently proposed amendment to the Industrial Technology Protection Act raises both imprisonment and fine penalties across the board for crimes involving the leakage and infringement of national core technologies and industrial technologies. This is intended to block the perception of technology leak crimes as "low-risk, high-return crimes" and to strengthen the practical deterrent effect of punishment.

Assemblyman Kim stressed, "Advanced technology goes beyond being a mere corporate asset and is directly linked to national security," adding, "These amendments will help protect the industrial ecosystem from recurring technology leaks and serve as an opportunity to raise awareness of the seriousness of such crimes."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.