Defense Ministry, Defense Agency, Defense Acquisition Program Administration Strengthen Punishment for Outgoing Defense Technology

The Ministry of National Defense and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said today that the revised Defense Industry Technology Protection Act, which was promulgated, will take effect on June 3 next year.

The revised law changed the punishment for leaking defense industry technology to imprisonment for up to 20 years or a fine of up to 2 billion won, plus imprisonment for more than a year and a fine of up to 2 billion won.

As a result, the prison cap has been eliminated and the punishment, which used to be imprisoned or fined, has been strengthened to impose both prison and fines.

The Ministry of National Defense said it has strengthened punishment as it has consistently pointed out that the current laws and regulations should be overhauled because the outflow of defense industry technology abroad takes a big toll on security.