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A Korean semiconductor engineer was arrested by Chinese authority on suspicion of espionage

tonyget

Active member
South Korean diplomatic sources revealed on the 28th that a South Korean expatriate in China, A, was arrested on suspicion of violating the "Counter-Espionage Law of the People's Republic of China" (hereinafter referred to as the "Counter-Espionage Law"). This is the first time that a South Korean has been arrested in the ten years since the "Counter-Espionage Law" was promulgated.

On the 29th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China confirmed that a South Korean citizen suspected of engaging in espionage activities was arrested in accordance with the law, and said that the South Korean Embassy in China had been notified, but did not disclose the specific information of the person involved.

According to reports, A, who is in his 50s, lives in Hefei City, Anhui Province. Before his arrest, he worked in a Chinese chip company and lived with his wife and two daughters. At the end of last year, investigators from the Hefei Municipal National Security Bureau took A away from his home. A was isolated and investigated in a local hotel for more than 5 months. In May this year, A was arrested by the prosecutor and is currently detained in the Hefei Detention Center.

According to reports, A was an employee of Samsung Electronics' chip department. Since 2016, he has worked in three or four Chinese chip manufacturers, including domestic storage giant Changxin Storage (CXMT).

Founded in 2016, Changxin Storage is an integrated memory manufacturing company headquartered in Hefei, Anhui. Changxin Storage focuses on the design, development, production and sales of dynamic random access memory chips (DRAM). Its products are widely used in mobile terminals, computers, servers, virtual reality and the Internet of Things.

The Chosun Ilbo pointed out that the Hefei National Security Bureau suspected that A leaked chip-related secrets to South Korea while working at Changxin Storage. But A argued that he did not have access to China's core chip technology.

The report quoted diplomatic sources as saying that since China implemented the "Anti-Espionage Law" in 2014, no Korean has been punished for the law. If A is sentenced in court, he will become the first Korean to be punished under the "Anti-Espionage Law".

On October 29, Lin Jian, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, responded to relevant questions at a regular press conference and said that a Korean citizen was arrested by relevant Chinese departments in accordance with the law on suspicion of espionage.

 
It could have been he passed information on the status of technological progress happening, not specifics on processes, inside CXMT and that is what got him into trouble.
Right now CXMT is a target for US sanctions on semiconductors, so they definitively don't want the West to know of internal progress details which can then be used to target them.

The Chinese keep foreigners out from SMIC fabs in Beijing which use "Delete A" production lines. And I expect the same deal will probably happen at YMTC and CXMT. Which is a problem for China's semi industry since they lack the talent in memory right now. Hiring Japanese and South Koreans is how they managed to begin to catch up.
 
Every year, mainland China arrests hundreds of foreigners without any news reaching the media. Now, that guy got into news because he is Samsung's employee.

Often, it would be just the local police officer seeking a promotion by successfully producing a political case.

It's a totally wrong misconception that just by keeping your mouth shut, you can avoid political prosecution. The absolute majority of targets of prosecution never did or say anything.
 
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