Effective September 13, Korea expanded espionage offenses beyond acts involving an “enemy state” to cover foreign countries or equivalent organizations. Strategic industries are the policy focus, but suppliers with limited security resources face acute exposure.
- The scope now covers espionage for any foreign country or equivalent organization.
- The new offense carries a minimum three-year prison term.
- Industrial-technology and trade-secret laws remain relevant.
- Technology leakage without the old North Korea nexus can face stronger scrutiny.
Manufacturing assets go beyond patents
| Asset | Field risk | Basic control |
|---|---|---|
| Drawings and tooling | Personal email or messenger | Role access, watermark, export approval |
| Process recipes | Departing staff copies | Versioning, logs, exit review |
| Samples and rejects | Leakage during disposal | Count, destruction evidence, contracts |
| Customer and pricing | Personal cloud storage | Corporate account, logs, retention |
| AI prompts | External transfer of drawings or yield data | Approved tools, redaction, review |
A 30-day SME plan
Classify recipes, plating conditions, material specifications, customer drawings and prices as critical, restricted or general.
Remove shared passwords, revoke access promptly and record USB, email and cloud exports.
Cover subcontracting, retention, incident notice, sample destruction and audit rights—not just NDA language.
Assign responsibility for evidence preservation and customer, law-enforcement and insurer contact.
BIZPECTRA view
Stronger law does not automatically protect know-how. SMEs need asset classification, least privilege, employee-exit control, subcontractor discipline and incident records. Secure handling of customer information is a global-sales trust signal.
This is general management analysis, not legal advice for a specific case.
Review lot traceability, process records and supplier quality-information controls for global customer programs.
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