South Korean lawmaker proposes tougher penalties for foreign espionage

South Korean lawmaker Ko Dong-jin has proposed an amendment to the Criminal Act to significantly strengthen penalties for espionage on behalf of foreign entities. The bill seeks to increase the minimum sentence for such crimes from three years to at least 10 years of imprisonment.

The proposed legislation aims to address gaps in current laws by expanding the scope of punishable acts. Specifically, it would include the leakage of ‘national core technology’—such as advanced semiconductor and AI technologies—and extend the definition of perpetrators to include ‘foreign companies.’

Ko noted that while recent legal changes expanded the definition of espionage beyond ‘enemy states’ to include ‘foreign countries or similar organizations,’ the sentencing remained disproportionately low compared to espionage against enemy states. The amendment intends to align South Korean law with international standards, where countries like the US and UK impose much harsher sentences for foreign espionage, treating industrial technology theft as a matter of national security rather than mere trade secret infringement.