The South Korean Intellectual Property Office is pushing for legal amendments to expand the scope of the technology police's investigations to include crimes involving the leakage of national core technologies and advanced strategic technologies. This move comes amid concerns that the abolition of the prosecution office could create gaps in the criminal justice system regarding technology theft investigations.
On October 14, the Intellectual Property Office announced it would expedite revisions to the 'Law on the Duties and Scope of Judicial Police Officers.' Currently, the technology police can only investigate crimes related to patent and trade secret infringements, lacking direct authority to investigate violations of the Industrial Technology Protection Act or the National Advanced Strategic Industry Act.
A significant issue is that these two types of crimes often occur together. According to the Intellectual Property Office, 81.8% of individuals charged with the overseas leakage of trade secrets also faced allegations under the Industrial Technology Protection Act or the National Advanced Strategic Industry Act. Such allegations must be referred to other investigative agencies, but the Intellectual Property Office expressed concerns that, under the revised criminal procedure law, it would not be able to conduct supplementary investigations for cases referred to the newly established prosecution office, potentially delaying processing or omitting some charges. During the recent National Assembly audit, calls were made for institutional improvements to prevent gaps in technology leakage investigations.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the estimated industrial damage from overseas technology leakage between 2020 and 2025 is approximately 23.27 trillion won. Notably, the leakage of advanced industrial technologies, including semiconductors, poses a serious threat to national economic security.
The Intellectual Property Office argues that technology leakage cases require technical expertise from the initial stages of defining the scope of searches to evidence analysis and proving allegations, emphasizing that the technology police should be directly involved from the outset of investigations. A study by the Judicial Policy Research Institute last year identified a lack of understanding of technology as a major reason for the difficulties in prosecuting technology leakage cases. Several related amendments have been proposed in the National Assembly.
Kim Yong-sun, head of the Intellectual Property Office, stated, “The leakage of advanced technologies is a serious crime that threatens not only corporate interests but also national economic security and industrial competitiveness. We will promptly revise relevant laws to ensure that gaps do not arise in technology leakage investigations during the restructuring of the criminal justice system and respond swiftly and effectively to crimes involving the leakage of core technologies based on the expertise of the technology police.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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