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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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PayPal Pushes into In-person Payments with Cashback Rewards, Apple Integration

The PayPal logo is seen at a high-tech park in Beersheba, southern Israel August 28, 2017. (Reuters)
The PayPal logo is seen at a high-tech park in Beersheba, southern Israel August 28, 2017. (Reuters)
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PayPal Pushes into In-person Payments with Cashback Rewards, Apple Integration

The PayPal logo is seen at a high-tech park in Beersheba, southern Israel August 28, 2017. (Reuters)
The PayPal logo is seen at a high-tech park in Beersheba, southern Israel August 28, 2017. (Reuters)

PayPal is expanding into US point-of-sale payments by integrating its debit card with Apple's mobile wallet and offering cashback rewards, as the global online payments giant seeks direct competition with tech companies and banks.

The bid to grab a slice of in-person purchases at stores, cafes and restaurants is part of an ambitious turnaround strategy by new CEO Alex Chriss who joined the company from Intuit last year.

While PayPal has long dominated online payments and peer-to-peer payments via its Venmo app, it has not pushed consumers to use its products in person, Reuters reported.

"E-commerce has obviously been one of the fastest growing areas where people are spending their dollars... but it's not everything," Chriss said. "Now consumers can use PayPal for every purchase, everywhere, every time."

The push into point-of-sales includes 5% cash back for certain products up to $1,000 per month and additional rewards from brands like DoorDash and Sephora.

The value of US debit card payments has jumped in recent years, reaching $4.55 trillion in 2021 up from $2.47 trillion in 2015, according to recent US Federal Reserve data.

Chriss said consumers are becoming increasingly cost-conscious and moving towards debit cards, which allow them to keep within their spending limits.

PayPal will also allow customers to use debit cards with Apple Pay, as users take advantage of mobile wallets and "tap to pay" options.

That makes it among the more competitive debit card cash-back products with only 24% of debit cardholders reporting earning cash-back rewards in 2023, compared with 74% of credit cardholders, a report from purchase rewards firm Valuedynamx showed.

While PayPal has enjoyed a long-held first mover advantage, increasing competition from Apple and Google have taken some share in mobile payments, according to analysts.

As part of the push, the company is making its largest-ever marketing investment to promote using PayPal in person. PayPal declined to disclose amount of that investment, but flagged in its quarterly earnings that marketing and brand campaigns would push up expenses in the second half of the year.

Chriss has called 2024 a "transition year" for PayPal, and has promised to grow revenues beyond transaction-related volume. In January, PayPal launched artificial intelligence-driven products and a one-click checkout feature.

PayPal's stock price is up more than 17% since the beginning of the year, but still trails benchmark S&P 500 index's 22% gain.