Summary in 10 Seconds: A former Samsung researcher in South Korea was sentenced to 7 years in prison for leaking chip production technology to CXMT. The court deemed the leaked DRAM data as national core technology. According to the prosecutor’s file, the technology in question included the 10 nm class DRAM process, which Samsung developed by spending 1.6 trillion won in 5 years. The same file also contains information that the defendant received approximately 2.9 billion won from CXMT in 6 years.
In the semiconductor race, the most expensive thing is sometimes not the factory, but the production knowledge itself. The latest case in South Korea reminded us of exactly this. A former researcher working at Samsung was sentenced to 7 years in prison for leaking DRAM production technology to Chinese memory manufacturer CXMT. The court evaluated the leaked data as national core technology. It was ruled that 56-year-old Jeon, whose name was mentioned only by his surname in the file, violated the Industrial Technology Protection Act.
The case stands out as one of the most striking links in the broader investigation of 10 people accused in the same leak chain last year. Why was the DRAM information moved to China deemed so critical? At the center of the court decision is a technology transfer that is considered more serious than a classic internal data leak. According to Reuters, Jeon transferred information about the DRAM production process to the other party after leaving his job at Samsung and moving to CXMT.
The prosecutor’s office had previously said that this file also laid the groundwork for China’s progress on the HBM side, which plays a critical role in artificial intelligence servers. The leaked section was about Samsung’s 10 nanometer class DRAM production technology. The prosecutor’s office states that approximately 1.6 trillion won R&D expenditure was spent on this technology and that Samsung was the only company that commercialized this level at that time.
The file also includes information that the former researcher handwritten notes of hundreds of critical steps in the production flow to bypass digital security controls. Some reports state that this number of steps exceeds 600. According to the table drawn by the prosecutor’s office, this information was adapted and verified on CXMT’s own equipment and accelerated the company’s transition to 10 nanometer DRAM production in 2023.
In Reuters’ news dated December 2025, it was stated that this was a first for a Chinese company and that it caused losses of at least tens of trillions of won for companies such as Samsung. At this point, the exact extent of the direct damage has not been disclosed to the public in detail in the court decision, but it is clear that the economic impact of the file is seen as very large. Money traffic was also one of the most serious topics of the case.
According to Yonhap information cited by Reuters, Jeon received approximately 2.9 billion won, or approximately $1.96 million, from CXMT over six years. Some local news reports state that this amount includes signing payments, share options and other contract incentives.
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