South Korean semiconductor company SK hynix is known for its dynamic random-access memory and flash memory chips. This is a vertically integrated company which means that SK hynix not only designs its own chips, it manufactures them too. Obviously, there are companies that would love to learn the company's trade secrets;a former female SK hynix employee was sentenced to 18 months in jail and fined the equivalent of $14,300 after being found guilty of breaking South Korean laws.
After hearing her excuses, the Yeoju branch of the Suwon District Court still ruled that her actions violated South Korea's Industrial Technology Protection Act. The court ruled her behavior suspicious since she printed the documents just before leaving SK hynix and accepting Huawei's offer in June 2022. The court felt that she had printed the documents to increase her worth to.
The company is already known as a national security threat in the U.S. As a result, it has been placed on the U.S. entity list preventing it from dealing with its U.S. supply chain. Export rules prevent foundries that use American technology to ship cutting-edge chips to Huawei.