South Korea's expanded espionage law takes effect, widening scope beyond North Korea

South Korea's revised espionage law came into force on September 13, expanding the scope of espionage offences beyond acts benefiting North Korea to cover any foreign country or equivalent organisation.

The National Assembly passed the amendment on February 26, following years of criticism that the existing legal framework was inadequate for handling technology and industrial espionage involving non-North Korean actors. The legislation was promulgated on March 12 and took effect after a six-month grace period.

Under the new provision, espionage for a foreign country or equivalent organisation carries a minimum sentence of three years in prison. The earlier provisions covering espionage that benefits an "enemy state" remain in force.

Previously, espionage charges generally applied only to acts benefiting North Korea. This meant prosecutors handling cases involving foreign governments or companies often had to rely on other industrial technology or trade-secret laws, which typically carry lighter penalties.

The National Intelligence Service welcomed the amendment when it was passed, stating that it would strengthen South Korea's ability to prevent leaks of strategic technologies such as semiconductors, displays, batteries and artificial intelligence.

Legal and security experts described the change as closing a longstanding loophole that often left advanced industrial technology leak cases subject to weaker punishment. Supporters argue the revised law will strengthen deterrence against industrial espionage.

The amendment follows several high-profile technology leak cases. Last year, five former Samsung Electronics employees were indicted on accusations of transferring key dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chip technology to Chinese memory maker CXMT. Samsung and CXMT did not comment at the time.

Asked whether the law, which does not name any specific country, could be seen as targeting Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China requires its enterprises to conduct international cooperation in accordance with international rules and laws. "At the same time, to this end, we believe that all countries should safeguard the normal investment and business activities of enterprises and provide a fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment," Mao told a regular news briefing on Friday.