According to Yonhap News Agency, design drawings for a submarine developed by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (now Hanwha Ocean) were leaked to Taiwan, and police are investigating.
Hanwha Ocean has stated that it will firmly take responsibility for past and future technology leaks.
According to South Korean police on January 4, the Gyeongnam National Police Agency is investigating two former employees of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering on suspicion of leaking internal technology, a violation of the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act.
The alleged leakers stole submarine design drawings while employed at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and then moved to a submarine development consulting firm.
Police believe they then handed the drawings over to their Taiwanese counterparts.
The submarine plans leaked to Taiwan were for the DSME1400 model, which Daewoo won a $1.1 billion order from Indonesia in 2011 for three vessels.
The drawings were reportedly used to develop Taiwan's first indigenous submarine, the Haikun.
In August last year, the First Instance Court sentenced an executive of the consulting firm to one year and six months in prison, suspended for two years, and fined the company 1 billion won for violating the Foreign Trade Act.
