{
  "id": 635466,
  "title": "Ex-SK hynix Employee Sentenced for Leaking Trade Secrets to Join Huawei Subsidiary",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/12/ex-sk-hynix-employee-sentenced-for-leaking-trade-secrets-to-join",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-12T05:56:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "BusinessKorea",
    "slug": "businesskorea",
    "url": "https://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=274664"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.\n\nKim'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.\n\nBetween 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.\n\nFollowing 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.",
  "summary": "A former SK hynix employee who unlawfully leaked the company’s core semiconductor trade secrets in an attempt to move to a local Chinese company was sentenced to a prison term again in the appellate trial.According to legal circles on Aug. 9, the Criminal Division 10-1 of the Seoul High Court senten",
  "key_points": [
    "Former SK hynix employee Kim sentenced to 1 year 6 months in prison",
    "Kim leaked semiconductor trade secrets to Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon",
    "Kim printed and photographed 186 pages of confidential CIS documents"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The prison sentence upholds strict enforcement of intellectual property laws, setting a precedent for consequences when employees misuse trade secrets for personal gain or to benefit competitors.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}