中国晶片制造商如长鑫存储（CXMT）近年透过优渥待遇积极挖角南韩工程师，加速了其技术突破。近期就有十名前三星员工因涉嫌将18奈米DRAM生产制程泄露给长鑫存储而遭起诉，估计造成三星达5兆韩元的损失；随著长鑫存储在全球DRAM市场取得约10%的份额，南韩晶片业者面临的市场与技术竞争压力与日俱增。
尽管南韩立法强化罚则，并与美国防堵技术流入中国的战略保持一致，但在实际防范与起诉上仍面临诸多严峻挑战。特别是占泄密案件超过85%的中小型供应商缺乏足够的资安防护资源，加上新法在检控时仍需克服举证外国国家势力介入的法律门槛，使得围堵半导体技术外流依然困难重重。
South Korea is tightening its defenses against industrial espionage with a revised spying law that allows courts to sentence individuals leaking sensitive technologies to foreign entities to up to 30 years in prison, elevating trade secret theft to a national security threat. The move comes as China's rapid progress in the semiconductor sector threatens Seoul's market dominance, with half of all detected foreign technology leak cases last year involving Chinese entities as authorities seek to protect memory giants like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
Chinese competitors such as CXMT have accelerated their growth by aggressively recruiting South Korean semiconductor specialists with lucrative compensation packages. A major ongoing case involving ten former Samsung employees indicted for leaking 18-nanometer DRAM manufacturing technology to CXMT reportedly cost Samsung an estimated 5 trillion won in lost sales, while CXMT's global DRAM market share reached 10% in 2026, intensifying market pressure on incumbents.
Although the new legislative framework aligns South Korea with broader US-led efforts to protect key semiconductor supply chains from China, significant vulnerabilities and enforcement hurdles remain. Over 85% of tech leaks disproportionately affect under-resourced small and medium-sized suppliers, and legal experts warn that prosecuting these cases remains challenging due to the high evidentiary threshold required to establish direct nation-state involvement.