BEIJING (Reuters) – China confirmed on Tuesday the detention of a South Korean citizen suspected of espionage, saying it had advised embassy officials, but without identifying the individual or detailing the charges.
It is the first time a South Korean national is being held under an expanded counter-espionage law that took effect in July last year.
The case could deter investment and operations by South Korean firms in the country’s largest trade partner, following the departure of Japanese expatriates after a compatriot working for Astellas Pharma Inc faced similar charges.
It centres on a former employee of Samsung Electronics who then worked at a Chinese chip firm, according to the Yonhap news agency.
“The South Korean citizen was arrested by the Chinese authorities in accordance with the law on suspicion of espionage,” Lin Jian, a spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry, told a regular press briefing, without giving details.
The Korean embassy in China had been notified, he added.
On Monday, Yonhap said the individual was suspected of leaking semiconductor-related information to South Korean authorities and was living in the city of Hefei in the eastern province of Anhui when he was detained.
Major Chinese chip companies, such as ChangXin Memory Technologies, have their headquarters there.
Since Washington began banning export of cutting-edge foreign chips and chip-making equipment to China in 2020, Beijing has invested billions of dollars in its domestic semiconductor industry to achieve a goal of self-sufficiency.
The tensions around the industry have made Beijing wary of information leaks, which it views as a national security threat.
The confirmation of the arrest also comes after tough measures by Seoul to prevent what it sees as the theft of semiconductor intellectual property (IP) by Chinese firms.
Choi Jinseog, a former Samsung executive who ran a chipmaking venture in China, was detained last month on fresh accusations regarding the theft of chip processing technology.
Choi had already been the subject of a high-profile industrial espionage trial since July 2023 that underscored South Korea’s efforts to fight industrial espionage and slow China’s progress in chipmaking. Choi has denied any wrongdoing.
(Reporting by Liz Lee, Eduardo Baptista, and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Clarence Fernandez)
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