The police said they arrested an employee of Samsung Biologics who tried to take out the company's classified data without permission.
The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency said Thursday that it is investigating the Samsung Biologics employee on charges of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act and breach of trust.
The employee is accused of attempting to take out company documents amounting to 300 sheets of A4 paper from Samsung Biologics headquarters in Incheon on Dec. 13 at around 7:00 p.m.
The suspect was caught by security guards on site while trying to leave the company with the relevant documents related to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards.
Samsung Biologics handed the employee over to the police and sued the employee for violating the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act.
The police also recently conducted a search and seizure at the employee's home, and also secured the work PC, and are investigating the reason for taking out documents.
"A formal investigation has not yet been conducted against the employee," a police official told Yonhap News. "We will check whether the document that the employee was trying to smuggle out falls under industrial technology or trade secrets."
Regarding the investigation, a Samsung Biologics official said that as the police investigation is ongoing, it was difficult for the company to reveal the details about the case.
"For information protection, the company is thoroughly re-examining its internal security system and strengthening related systems," the official told Korea Biomedical Review. "We will continue to take strong legal actions if we confirm any additional act of leaking or violating trade secrets."
Samsung Biologic has recently been facing issues with several employees allegedly stealing the company's trade secrets and moving to a competitor company.
Earlier, Samsung Biologics applied for an injunction against the infringement of trade secrets against three former employees who left the company for Lotte Biologics and received a partial citation decision from the Incheon District Court in July last year.
Samsung Biologics took such legal actions after confirming that the employees printed various documents and smuggled them out before leaving the company.
Samsung Biologics also sued some employees who moved to Lotte Biologics on charges of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.
The case is being investigated by the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office separately from the recent attempt to take out documents.
In October of last year, the prosecution conducted a search and seizure at the Lotte Biologics headquarters.