South Korea Expands Espionage Law to All Foreign Countries — SkimNews
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- South Korea's revised Criminal Act takes effect September 13, expanding espionage offenses from North Korea-only to all foreign countries and carrying a minimum three-year prison sentence.
- The National Assembly passed the amendment on February 26 after years of criticism that existing laws could not punish technology leaks tied to non-North Korean actors, and the law was promulgated March 12 with a six-month grace period.
- The National Intelligence Service welcomed the amendment, saying it strengthens protection of strategic technologies including semiconductors, displays, batteries, and AI.
- The change follows the indictment of five former Samsung Electronics employees accused of transferring key DRAM chip technology to Chinese memory maker CXMT.
- Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded Friday, saying China requires its enterprises to cooperate internationally under international rules and called on all countries to provide a "fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment."
- Legal and security experts cited the amendment as closing a loophole that left advanced industrial technology leak cases subject to lighter penalties under trade-secret or industrial technology laws.
Why it matters: The law closes a gap prosecutors flagged for years, letting Seoul pursue espionage charges against any foreign state — not just Pyongyang — with a floor sentence of three years. The trigger case, a Samsung-to-CXMT DRAM leak, shows exactly which industries Seoul is arming itself to defend, and Beijing's diplomatic pushback suggests friction over how the law will be applied to Chinese-linked cases.
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