South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) detected 107 overseas industrial technology leaks between 2021 and 2025. Data submitted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources to the National Assembly show that semiconductors accounted for nearly 40% of the cases.
Semiconductor technologies were involved in 40 cases, followed by display technologies with 21, electrical and electronics technologies with 10, automotive technologies with seven and shipbuilding technologies with six. Semiconductors were the largest category in the overall tally.
Of the 107 cases, 31 involved national core technologies, which the government designates as critical to national security and the economy because of their technological and economic value or growth potential. Semiconductors also led this group, with nine cases; displays and electrical and electronics technologies had five each.
One cited case involves a former Samsung Electronics manager accused of leaking the South Korean chipmaker's 18-nanometer DRAM manufacturing technology to Chinese company ChangXin Memory Technologies. South Korea designates the technology as a national core technology. The reported leak is an allegation, not a court finding in the supplied account.