Korea’s LED company, Seoul Semiconductor, announced that its former R&D employee (“Kim”, age of 40) was found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment as he divulged key LED technology from the company.

At the end of February, the Incheon Criminal District Court sentenced eight months in prison, two years of probation and 120 hours of community service to a former R&D employee of Seoul Semiconductor, who resigned in December 2014, charged with the Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology.

The Court said, “Kim was in charge of technology development at the Seoul Semiconductor’s Process Technology Team at the time, and used LED package technology illegally obtained from Seoul Semiconductor to do a research project with supplier of Seoul Semiconductor. This violated the Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology and Kim was convicted”.

According the report of The Korea Times, the stolen technology was developed over 32 months with an investment of about US$31.3 million.