Consideration of Measures to Strengthen Response Capabilities for Industrial Technology Leakage Crimes

Countries around the world are trying to prevent the outflow of high-tech technology. In Korea, related ministries such as the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, National Intelligence Service, Korea Customs Service, Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and National Police Agency are preparing measures to block overseas outflow of key industries such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, and autonomous vehicles. However, crimes against the outflow of industrial technology are frequently occurring. Repeated crimes of national core technology leakage in Korea apply the “trade secret infringement” of the “Intellectual Property Crime Sentencing Standards” lower than the punishment regulations of the Industrial Technology Protection Act and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. In other words, the sentence is lower than the legal sentence. In addition, industrial technology leakage crimes, unlike general theft crimes, are mostly first-time offenders committed by white-collar workers for the purpose of financial gain, so they serve as a factor in reducing sentences, and the likelihood of recidivism is low. Therefore, this article suggested policy alternatives such as rational judgment of sentencing standards, securing experts in calculating industrial technology damage and establishing a standard system, establishing specialized organizations, securing investigative experts, specializing in investigative techniques, mutual cooperation with related organizations, and efforts to improve laws and systems to fundamentally block industrial technology leakage crimes.