Semiconductors made up the largest slice of industrial technology that South Korea’s intelligence service caught leaving the country over five years, figures released this week show.
Chips supplied 40 of the 107 cases the National Intelligence Service recorded between 2021 and 2025, or roughly 37 percent. Displays followed on 21, then electrical and electronics on 10. Autos accounted for seven and shipbuilding six. The yearly count barely moved, running 22, 20, 23, 23 and 19 across the span.
Thirty-one cases touched technologies Seoul classifies as national core assets, and semiconductors led that list too with nine.
Small and medium-sized firms figured in 64 cases, about double the 33 involving large companies, while universities and research institutes accounted for ten.
Courts followed at a similar tempo. Police handed 230 people to prosecutors across 77 investigations, and most of the prosecutions that followed reached a courtroom.
Lawmaker Koo Ja-keun, who obtained the data, said governments elsewhere are hardening penalties and lowering the bar for proving a leak, a trend that leaves Korean chipmakers exposed on both the export and hiring side.
