Former executive siphoned off Samsung Semiconductor core technology to China, denies allegations

A former Samsung Electronics executive who was arrested and charged with setting up a semiconductor manufacturer in China by stealing core process technology developed by Samsung Electronics by investing trillions of won has denied the charges entirely in his first trial.

At the first hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court today (13th), Choi, CEO of Chinese semiconductor company Chengdu International, said, "I have never ordered or reported Samsung Electronics' technology leakage," claiming that the technology in question is information that can be acquired from public government websites.

In today's trial, Choi's bail interrogation was also conducted, and Choi claimed that he needed bail to exercise his defense rights.

Choi, who served as vice president of Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor, is accused of receiving about 400 billion won from the Chinese local government at the end of 2019 to establish Chengdu Gaojeon and siphoning off Samsung Electronics' core national technologies.

They developed DRAM semiconductor process technology in a year and a half by stealing core national technologies developed by Samsung Electronics with 4 trillion won in development costs, and succeeded in producing DRAM pilot wafers for the second time in China.

The pilot wafer is a basic development product that measures whether the applied technology can function as an actual semiconductor, and it is known that global semiconductor companies are also a key technology that usually takes four to five years to develop.