Former Samsung Employee Receives Record-Setting Sentence for Leaking 18nm Chip Secrets to China

It looks like South Korea isn’t messing around when it comes to safeguarding its tech secrets from being whisked away to rival nations. A court over there just handed a “tough penalty” to a former Samsung staff member who got caught sharing crucial chip details with CXMT.

It seems China’s leading memory manufacturer, CXMT, might have taken the fast track in developing DRAM technology through questionable means. According to a report by Sedaily, South Korea’s Central District Court found a former Samsung team manager guilty of spilling trade secrets to CXMT, which reportedly gave the Chinese company a leg up in advancing their DRAM tech. The court made its position pretty clear:

“A considerable chunk of the indictment points out that the defendant unlawfully acquired information on the 18nm DRAM process—a core national technology of Samsung Electronics—and went as far as to disclose, leak, and utilize it.

Given the immense resources that Samsung Electronics poured into successfully developing and mass-producing their 18nm DRAM products, it’s not hard to see that Samsung Electronics has likely suffered extensive losses.”
– via Sedaily

The court described how this former employee passed along critical files tied to Samsung’s 18nm process to CXMT. Thanks to one person’s ambition, a vital part of South Korea’s semiconductor know-how ended up in China’s hands. Samsung has poured not just money but years of effort into its mature processes, such as the 18nm—one that’s praised as a milestone in the chip industry. With this technology slipping out into the open, the situation escalates into a national security concern for South Korea.

In our recent coverage, we noted how CXMT is quickly positioning itself as a formidable memory segment contender, aiming to compete directly with Samsung. It’s rumored to be working on DDR5 tech and has already launched products in local markets. Companies like MSI are starting to support CXMT’s modules, suggesting it’s making its presence known. Before long, we could see CXMT rubbing shoulders with the big names in the memory manufacturing sector.

Did this leak kickstart CXMT’s journey into the memory market? While there’s no concrete answer yet, it’s undoubtedly a massive concern for Samsung, and the stiff penalty handed down underscores the gravity of such crimes—not just in South Korea but globally as well.