China yesterday confirmed the detention of a South Korean citizen suspected of espionage, saying it had advised embassy officials, without identifying the individual or detailing the charges.
It is the first time a South Korean national is being held under an expanded counterespionage law that took effect in July last year.
The case could deter investment and operations by South Korean firms in the country’s largest trade partner, following the departure of Japanese expatriates after a compatriot working for Astellas Pharma Inc faced similar charges.
Photo: AFP
It centers on a former employee of Samsung Electronics Co who then worked at a Chinese chip firm, the Yonhap news agency reported.
“The South Korean citizen was arrested by the Chinese authorities in accordance with the law on suspicion of espionage,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian (林劍) told a regular news briefing in Beijing, without giving details.
The South Korean embassy in China had been notified, he added.
On Monday, Yonhap said the individual was suspected of leaking semiconductor-related information to South Korean authorities and was living in Hefei in China’s eastern province of Anhui when he was detained.
Major Chinese chip companies, such as ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc (長鑫存儲), are headquartered in the city.
Since Washington began banning export of cutting-edge foreign chips and chipmaking equipment to China in 2020, Beijing has invested billions of dollars in its domestic semiconductor industry to achieve a goal of self-sufficiency.
The tensions around the industry have made Beijing wary of information leaks, which it views as a national security threat.
The confirmation of the arrest also comes after tough measures by Seoul to prevent what it sees as the theft of semiconductor intellectual property by Chinese firms.
Choi Jin-seog, a former Samsung executive who ran a chipmaking venture in China, was detained by the Seoul Central District Court last month on fresh accusations regarding the theft of chip processing technology.
Choi had already been the subject of a high-profile industrial espionage trial since July last year that underscored South Korea’s efforts to fight industrial espionage and slow China’s progress in chipmaking. Choi has denied any wrongdoing.
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