Chinese chipmaker CXMT in crosshairs of South Korean prosecutors over Samsung tech leak
Prosecutors in Seoul indict 10 people, including ex-Samsung executives, for allegedly leaking the firm’s technology to memory chipmaker CXMT
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on Tuesday said five people had been arrested, including a former Samsung executive who allegedly recruited key personnel and leaked the company’s proprietary technology to CXMT, according to a report by Yonhap News Agency.
They face charges for violating the country’s Unfair Competition Prevention Act and the Industrial Technology Protection Act, according to the prosecutor’s Information Technology Crime Investigation Department.
Another five individuals, including CXMT employees, were indicted without detention on the same charges, the Yonhap report said.
South Korean prosecutors alleged that CXMT recruited a former Samsung vice-president as a research department head soon after the Chinese chipmaker was established in 2016. CXMT made the executive responsible for poaching key Samsung engineers to bolster development of its 10-nanometre dynamic random access memory (DRAM) technology.
Samsung and CXMT did not immediately respond to requests for comments on Friday.