Prosecutors say AMAT may have known leak
Published: 08 Feb. 2010, 01:20
Prosecutors say that there is a high possibility that Applied Materials (AMAT) headquarters in the U.S. knew that its vice president, Gwak, 47, was giving proprietary semiconductor technology from Samsung Electronics to Hynix Semiconductor.
The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office last week indicted nearly 20 people allegedly linked to the leak, including Gwak and head of the company’s Korean branch, Kim, among others. AMAT supplies parts to both Samsung Electronics and Hynix.
Police say Gwak was named head of AMAT’s Korean subsidiary, AMK, in January 2001. In 2004, Samsung Electronics first discovered that an AMK employee tried to obtain secret technology. At the time, Samsung warned AMK and said it suspected Gwak had been involved.
In 2007, Samsung heard that Gwak and a head researcher at Samsung, Nah, 44, were becoming friendly. Samsung conducted an internal investigation, in which Nah confessed that he and Gwak had been having many conversations regarding Samsung’s chip technology. Prosecutors are presently trying to locate Nah.
Samsung officially raised this problem with AMAT headquarters, requesting that AMAT fire Gwak and prevent any reoccurrence of such leaks. AMAT reportedly said that it would take appropriate measures regarding Gwak. After this, Gwak returned to the U.S., but retained the title as head of AMK.
Last January, Gwak became vice president of Applied Materials. The company, with around $5 billion in annual sales, is the global leader in semiconductor equipment and was named one of the top 500 U.S. companies last year by Fortune magazine. As a high-level executive at such a firm, Gwak’s annual salary is reported to be millions of dollars.
“It looks like Gwak was recognized throughout the company for boosting sales,” said an official at the prosecutors’ office.
During his stay in the U.S. as AMAT vice president, Gwak visited AMK around once every month. Last December, when prosecutors raided AMK, Gwak was there.
Prosecutors said that they confiscated a suspicious e-mail message sent to Gwak from AMAT headquarters. Part of the e-mail stated that Hynix was struggling and asked Gwak to help Hynix recover, so that AMAT and Hynix could continue their strong relationship.
Also, Gwak was found to have sent an e-mail to AMK employees which read, “Help Hynix but also be cautious. If Samsung finds out, it will be a big deal.”
“There is high possibility that the information that was pocketed could have been leaked to other companies besides Hynix, including U.S. and other foreign competitors [of Samsung Electronics],” said a source at the prosecutors’ office.
“It is regretful that we couldn’t do additional investigation due to the fact that it [AMAT] is an American company.”
The case was first opened after AMK complained former employees stole its technology and created another company. While investigating the former AMK employees, prosecutors learned that Samsung Electronics’ technology had been acquired by AMK.
By Lee Jeong-bong [[email protected]]
The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office last week indicted nearly 20 people allegedly linked to the leak, including Gwak and head of the company’s Korean branch, Kim, among others. AMAT supplies parts to both Samsung Electronics and Hynix.
Police say Gwak was named head of AMAT’s Korean subsidiary, AMK, in January 2001. In 2004, Samsung Electronics first discovered that an AMK employee tried to obtain secret technology. At the time, Samsung warned AMK and said it suspected Gwak had been involved.
In 2007, Samsung heard that Gwak and a head researcher at Samsung, Nah, 44, were becoming friendly. Samsung conducted an internal investigation, in which Nah confessed that he and Gwak had been having many conversations regarding Samsung’s chip technology. Prosecutors are presently trying to locate Nah.
Samsung officially raised this problem with AMAT headquarters, requesting that AMAT fire Gwak and prevent any reoccurrence of such leaks. AMAT reportedly said that it would take appropriate measures regarding Gwak. After this, Gwak returned to the U.S., but retained the title as head of AMK.
Last January, Gwak became vice president of Applied Materials. The company, with around $5 billion in annual sales, is the global leader in semiconductor equipment and was named one of the top 500 U.S. companies last year by Fortune magazine. As a high-level executive at such a firm, Gwak’s annual salary is reported to be millions of dollars.
“It looks like Gwak was recognized throughout the company for boosting sales,” said an official at the prosecutors’ office.
During his stay in the U.S. as AMAT vice president, Gwak visited AMK around once every month. Last December, when prosecutors raided AMK, Gwak was there.
Prosecutors said that they confiscated a suspicious e-mail message sent to Gwak from AMAT headquarters. Part of the e-mail stated that Hynix was struggling and asked Gwak to help Hynix recover, so that AMAT and Hynix could continue their strong relationship.
Also, Gwak was found to have sent an e-mail to AMK employees which read, “Help Hynix but also be cautious. If Samsung finds out, it will be a big deal.”
“There is high possibility that the information that was pocketed could have been leaked to other companies besides Hynix, including U.S. and other foreign competitors [of Samsung Electronics],” said a source at the prosecutors’ office.
“It is regretful that we couldn’t do additional investigation due to the fact that it [AMAT] is an American company.”
The case was first opened after AMK complained former employees stole its technology and created another company. While investigating the former AMK employees, prosecutors learned that Samsung Electronics’ technology had been acquired by AMK.
By Lee Jeong-bong [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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