Yoon Jun-byeong, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea [Provided by lawmaker's office]
Yoon Jun-byeong, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea [Provided by lawmaker's office]

Yoon Jun-byeong, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker representing Jeongeup and Gochang-gun in North Jeolla Province and serving on the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, said Monday he introduced a bill Friday to prevent large companies from stealing technology from small and medium-sized enterprises and to ensure effective legal remedies for affected firms.

According to Yoon, current law already includes various provisions — including prohibitions on technology misappropriation — designed to foster cooperative relationships between large and small companies and protect SME technology in subcontracting transactions.

Despite ongoing enforcement by judicial authorities and the government, large companies continue to exploit their dominant position to steal or copy core technologies developed by smaller firms. Critics have long argued that administrative measures under existing law are insufficient to deter such misconduct, even though technology theft — which strips SMEs of research and development achievements built up over years — constitutes a serious act of unfair competition.

SMEs that file damages suits against large companies face another obstacle: under the current judicial system, proving the specific extent of harm caused by technology infringement is difficult, meaning affected firms often fail to obtain meaningful relief or, even when they prevail, receive compensation that falls short of their actual losses.

Yoon said the bill aims to strengthen sanctions against large companies that steal technology and to ensure that research and development costs and labor expenses incurred by SMEs in developing or securing technology can be included when calculating damages.

Under the proposed legislation, the minister of SMEs and Startups would be empowered to impose fines of up to 5 billion won ($3.36 million) on companies — typically large firms — found to have misappropriated technology in subcontracting transactions, strengthening the penalty regime for such conduct.

The bill also specifies that courts calculating damages must consider the scale of harm caused by the violation, the technology development costs borne by the subcontracting firm, and the level of any fines imposed — provisions intended to ensure that affected SMEs receive substantive legal relief.

"Technology theft is a serious crime that destroys the technological capabilities and growth foundations that SMEs have built over many years, and it undermines fair market order," Yoon said. "In a structure where punishment is weaker than the profits gained from illegal conduct, it is difficult to eradicate technology theft — stronger sanctions are needed." He added that he would do his utmost to pass the bill in order to protect the technological sovereignty of small businesses and build a fair industrial ecosystem in which large and small companies can grow together.


bigroot@heraldcorp.com