South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT confirmed that it reported researchers from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) who participated in the development of Nuri rocket to the prosecution on charges of technology leakage.

According to multiple sources from the science and technology industry on Monday, the Ministry of Science and ICT conducted an audit of KARI due to concerns about technology leakage and took legal action against four researchers. It was confirmed that they had removed hard drives containing technical information related to the Korean launch vehicle Nuri from KARI computers in Daejeon.

It was also revealed that the researchers ccessed technical data excessively at certain times.

The accused researchers claim that they removed the hard drives to do their work in the office at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province. This was a common practice due to the nature of their work, which required them to travel between Daejeon and Naro Space Center.

The researchers added they accessed technical data multiple times for research purposes.

But the Ministry of Science and ICT took the position that it cannot accept the researchers’ explanations as they removed the hard drives and accessed data intensively after the successful launch of Nuri rocket in May 2023.

KARI also explained that by using a virtual private network (VPN), researchers can work at sites in Daejeon and Goheung without physically moving hard drives.

“We plan to release the results of the audit investigation as soon as possible,” an unnamed official from the Ministry of Science and ICT’s audit department said.

The latest audit was initiated based on an internal report from KARI.

It has been suggested that the Ministry of Science and ICT’s targeted audit was motivated by concerns over the mass departure of KARI researchers.

There have also been rumors of discontent within KARI after raising objections to the early organizational restructuring plans after the establishment of the Korea Aerospace Agency.

The confirmation of technology leakage in the audit results, however, meant that such claims lost their credibility.

It has become particularly evident that there is no mechanism in place to prevent technology leakage for researchers at government-funded research institutions moving to private companies, even though the number of cases involving technology leakage allegations has been increasing.

“The number of cases prosecuted for technology leakage has significantly increased recently,” an unnamed official from the science and technology industry said. “There is a need for guidelines for evaluating technology leakage, locating post-retirement assets, and other related matters for government-funded research institution researchers, similar to the evaluation process for high-ranking officials moving to private companies.”

Meanwhile, Hanwha Aerospace Co., which had been planning to hire KARI researchers, has put the recruitment process on hold.

By Ko Jae-won and Lee Eun-joo

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