Ex-SK hynix Employee Sentenced for Leaking Trade Secrets to Join Huawei Subsidiary

In August 9, the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 10-1 sentenced a former SK hynix employee, Kim, to 1 year and 6 months in prison for leaking the company's core semiconductor trade secrets. The court's decision is the same as his previous trial. Kim, who worked at SK hynix since 2016, was assigned as an expatriate employee at the Chinese sales corporation of SK hynix from January 2018 to September 2022. His role involved customer support duties.

Kim's actions began in February 2022 when he decided to change jobs, aiming for local competitors, including a subsidiary of Huawei, China's leading telecommunications equipment firm, HiSilicon. Allegedly, he violated security regulations and began leaking confidential information. Kim is accused of unlawfully leaking advanced technology and trade secret materials related to CMOS Image Sensor (CIS), a semiconductor device that transforms light into digital signals.

Between February and March 2022, Kim illicitly printed 186 pages of CIS-related trade secret documents over eight occasions. He also took unauthorized photos of 77 pages of related materials using his iPad, resulting in a total of 170 materials and 5,900 photos leaked without authorization. Some of the leaked confidential information was directly used in his job applications and disclosed to Chinese companies without alteration.

Following his initial job change attempt being postponed, investigators discovered that Kim submitted a resume to another Chinese competitor in August of the same year. He fully disclosed SK hynix's trade secrets to the company's team leader and others.