South Korean industrial spying cases have risen consistently, largely in the electronics industry, says a UPI report.

 

During the past six years, 203 cases have involved current and former employees who stole and tried to sell South Korean technologies abroad, the report says. The center is affiliated with South Korea's National Intelligence Service, the country's chief intelligence agency. Cases rose to 43 in 2009 from 26 in 2004, the report says, pointing to 42 cases in 2008, 32 in 2007, 31 in 2006 and 29 in 2005. No cases were cited for this year, though.

 

South Korea's electronics industry accounted for 48.3 percent of the cases, and more than 80 percent of cases involved current and former employees, the report says.

 

South Korean prosecutors indicted 18 people this year for allegedly stealing chip-manufacturing technology from Samsung Electronics Co. and Hynix Semiconductor Inc., formerly Hyundai Electronics, the world's second-largest memory chipmaker.