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SKorean Chip Executive Detained Again over Alleged Technology Leak to China

Clouds are seen above high-rise buildings at dawn in Beijing on September 6, 2024. (Photo by ADEK BERRY / AFP)
Clouds are seen above high-rise buildings at dawn in Beijing on September 6, 2024. (Photo by ADEK BERRY / AFP)
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SKorean Chip Executive Detained Again over Alleged Technology Leak to China

Clouds are seen above high-rise buildings at dawn in Beijing on September 6, 2024. (Photo by ADEK BERRY / AFP)
Clouds are seen above high-rise buildings at dawn in Beijing on September 6, 2024. (Photo by ADEK BERRY / AFP)

A South Korean executive accused of stealing semiconductor information developed by Samsung Electronics has been detained again on fresh allegations related to the theft of chip processing technology, a court official and his lawyer said on Friday.
The Seoul Central District Court issued a warrant to detain Choi Jinseog on Thursday due to concerns he was a flight risk, said a court official, who declined to provide further details.
Choi, a former Samsung executive who ran a chipmaking venture in China, has already been the subject of a high-profile industrial espionage trial since July 2023 and was arrested and released on bail last November. He has rejected those charges.
He now faces new allegations of being involved in stealing information related to 20-nanometre DRAM chip processing from Samsung, Kim Pilsung, Choi's lawyer, told Reuters.
Kim said his client denied any wrongdoing and the information he is accused of stealing is publicly available.
Choi has not been indicted over the new allegations, his lawyer said.
Samsung declined to comment.
In a case that underscores South Korea's efforts to crack down on industrial espionage and slow China's progress in chip manufacturing, Choi was indicted in June 2023, accused of seeking to build a copycat chip factory in China with sensitive information developed by Samsung.
The award-winning engineer was once seen as a star in South Korea's chip industry.
After being freed on bail, Choi told Reuters in April that police were investigating him and one of his former employees, an ex-Samsung worker, over fresh allegations related to Samsung's chip processing technology.

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Chip Design Software Firms Climb as US Lifts Curbs on China Exports

Semiconductor chips are seen on a printed circuit board in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration
Semiconductor chips are seen on a printed circuit board in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration
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Chip Design Software Firms Climb as US Lifts Curbs on China Exports

Semiconductor chips are seen on a printed circuit board in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration
Semiconductor chips are seen on a printed circuit board in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration

Shares of Synopsys and Cadence Design Systems jumped on Thursday after the US lifted export curbs on chip design software to China, easing uncertainty around access to the crucial market.

The restrictions, announced in late May, had essentially cut off the market that brings over 10% of revenue for the industry's major players, hitting forecasts and knocking down shares.

The export resumption means both the companies will only lose one month of revenue in the current quarter, Mizuho analysts said. The easing trade tensions may also clear the path for long-awaited Chinese approval of Synopsys's $35 billion buyout of engineering software firm Ansys, the analysts added, Reuters reported.

Synopsys, which had pulled its forecast in May due to the curbs, rose 5.5%. The company said on Wednesday it is still assessing the impact of export restrictions on China on its financials.

Cadence and Ansys gained 6.1% and 3.5%, respectively, while Germany's Siemens, the third major player in the electronic design automation tools sector, was up 1.5% in Frankfurt.

"This marks a distinct warming of relations and a small ceasefire in the chips war," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Still, she cautioned that the move did not signal a broader shift on high-end chip exports from companies such as Nvidia. "The US will remain concerned about the technological prowess China has developed, and its use of US intellectual property."

Successive US administrations have sought to restrict China's access to advanced American chip technology, citing concerns that it could be used to strengthen Beijing's military.

But the export curbs have also fueled a surge in domestic chip design activity in China, aided by generous state subsidies. They have also stoked fears of retaliation, with analysts warning that Beijing could delay or block approval of the Synopsys-Ansys deal in response.

The deal, which has received merger clearance in every jurisdiction other than China according to the companies, carries a deadline of July 15 for its closure with an option to extend until January next year.