Job-Hopping Resume Attached with Corporate Secrets! Former SK Hynix Employee Sentenced in Appeal for Stealing 'Image Sensor' Technology and Joining China

A former employee surnamed Kim at South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after the Seoul High Court upheld the first-instance ruling, rejecting his appeal over charges of leaking core CMOS image sensor (CIS) technical data and trade secrets to Chinese companies.

According to Yonhap News Agency on the 9th, the Criminal Division 10-1 of the Seoul High Court recently delivered its second-instance verdict in the case of Kim, a former SK Hynix employee accused of violating the 'Industrial Technology Protection Act,' the 'Act on Prevention of Unfair Competition and Protection of Trade Secrets,' and breach of trust in business.

The court confirmed that Kim was guilty of leaking trade secrets and maintained the original sentence of 18 months' imprisonment.

The investigation revealed that in 2022, while working at SK Hynix's Chinese subsidiary, Kim received recruitment offers from Huawei's chip design subsidiary HiSilicon and other Chinese firms. In preparing his job application, Kim violated SK Hynix's strict internal security policies by printing and photographing large volumes of confidential documents related to cutting-edge CMOS image sensor (CIS) technology from the company's document management system.

Kim then directly incorporated parts of these confidential materials into his job application submitted to Chinese companies, resulting in the leakage of the company's core technology. CMOS image sensors are essential chips for image processing in smartphone cameras and laptop webcams and are classified as nationally protected strategic technologies in South Korea.

During the first trial, Kim was also accused of leaking 'Hybrid Bonding' technology used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM). However, the first-instance court ruled that Hybrid Bonding had not yet been officially designated as a national advanced technology by South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy at the time of the incident, thus acquitting him on that charge. The Seoul High Court in the second trial agreed with this assessment, upholding the 18-month sentence solely for the CIS-related trade secret violation.

In explaining the sentencing rationale, the Seoul High Court emphasized: 'The trade secrets leaked by the defendant were the result of massive investments and years of effort by the victim company. Lenient punishment for such infringement would not only undermine domestic companies' motivation to invest in R&D but also allow foreign competitors to easily seize hard-earned technological achievements under the pretext of talent recruitment.'

The panel added that while Kim admitted to all charges and most of the leaked confidential data were promptly recovered by South Korean authorities and the company—preventing further dissemination—this was considered a mitigating factor. Nevertheless, the court decided to uphold the original sentence without increasing the penalty.