Earlier this month, an ex-Samsung Electronics employee got indicted for leaking company secrets to rival companies. More details have now emerged, and South Korean prosecutors allege that the former Samsung executive was trying to use the stolen data to help Foxconn set up a chip factory in China.
According to the latest news on the matter (via Reuters), the former Samsung executive is Choi Jinseog. The indictment announced on June 12 did not mention any names, but Reuters says the media subsequently identified Choi through his ties with Foxconn.
In 2018, Choi Jinseog's consultancy firm, Jin Semiconductor, won a contract with Foxconn to help it build its new chip factory. He allegedly stole information about Samsung's supplier network and trade secrets and poached “a large number” of employees from Samsung and its affiliates to illegally obtain information.
Foxconn's factory was never built
Choi's firm also supposedly got confidential information regarding semiconductor cleanroom management through Cho Young-sik, who at that time was working for Samoo Architects & Engineers. Samoo Architects & Engineers is a Samsung C&T subsidiary that provides services such as architectural design, engineering, interior design, and construction management.
Samoo helped Samsung build cleanrooms at its chip plant in Xian, China, which was constructed in 2012. The indictment on Choi Jinseog alleges that he illegally obtained information about cleanrooms with the intention of selling those secrets to its new client in China, i.e., Foxconn. At that time, Foxconn was setting up a new chip factory.
In addition, South Korean prosecutors allege that Choi illegally obtained blueprints of Samsung's plant from an employee at HanmiGlobal, Chung Chan-yup, who supervised the construction and floor layouts of the wastewater treatment sections at Samsung's factory.
The indictment claims that all this sensitive information illegally obtained by Choi Jinseog from Samsung was supposed to help Foxconn build a new chip factory in China. But according to Choi's lawyer, that factory was never built.
Choi's lawyer also states that “what prosecutors allege was stolen has nothing to do with how to design or make chips. […] there are public international engineering standards to make cleanrooms and that's not something only Samsung has.” He also added: “A factory layout? You can take a snapshot from Google Maps and experts would know what is inside which building.”
Foxconn, Samoo Architects & Engineers, and HanmiGlobal have not been accused of wrongdoings. In a recent statement, Foxconn said it is aware of the recent speculations around the legal case in South Korea and clarified: “We abide by laws and regulations governing jurisdictions we operate in.”
How the mighty have fallen
Before all this controversy, Choi Jinseog was a high-profile name in the South Korean chip industry. The 65-year-old executive worked at Samsung for close to two decades before leaving the company in 2001 and joining SK Hynix, where he served as CTO for more than eight years.
At Samsung, Choi was responsible for developing DRAM memory chips and won internal awards for helping the Korean tech giant advance DRAM technologies. He also worked on wafer processing tech.
Interestingly, the Foxconn plant that never came to be was supposed to manufacture 20nm DRAM memory chips. The factory had a planned production capacity of 100,000 wafers per month.
