"Chinese spy operation ensnared Jensen Huang while Korea's counterintelligence is shackled"

"Democratic Party government has split overseas intelligence network and counterintelligence investigations in two"

Alice Huang, also known by her Chinese name Huang Le, who has been identified as the mistress of former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and suspected of being a Chinese spy, is seen leaving a restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan, in May last year. [Reuters]
Alice Huang, also known by her Chinese name Huang Le, who has been identified as the mistress of former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and suspected of being a Chinese spy, is seen leaving a restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan, in May last year. [Reuters]

The People Power Party used the scandal surrounding former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's alleged affair with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy to criticize the Lee Jae-myung government's counterintelligence policy.

Choi Su-jin, the PPP's floor spokesperson, said in a statement Friday that Huang's affair scandal had expanded into allegations that the woman helped smuggle advanced AI chips into China, ultimately leading to Huang's resignation. Choi added that Nvidia's share price had plunged amid reports of a Chinese Ministry of State Security spy operation said to mobilize up to 800,000 agents, and that the fallout had pushed US-China relations into serious confrontation.

Choi warned that the situation carried a strong message for South Korea. "Advanced memory chips from Samsung Electronics and SK hynix underpin half of Korea's exports," Choi said. "If that technology is stolen, the foundation of the Korean economy could collapse."

Choi noted that the United States had responded by mobilizing its full intelligence and legislative apparatus. The FBI, which holds both counterintelligence collection and criminal investigative authority, is working alongside the Bureau of Industry and Security and the National Security Agency to protect classified information, Choi said. In Congress, Democrats have joined Republicans in both chambers to advance a package of three bills targeting China's chip access — measures aimed at blocking indirect technology leakage and tracking chip locations.

Choi also warned that technology theft had crept dangerously close to home, citing China's "Thousand Talents Plan" recruitment of key personnel at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, as well as the alleged leak of Samsung's DRAM manufacturing process — developed at a cost of 1.6 trillion won ($1.2 billion) — to Chinese chipmaker CXMT. "Even so, the Democratic Party government stripped the National Intelligence Service of its investigative authority and then dismantled the prosecution's security and technology investigation functions, offloading counterintelligence work onto the Serious Crime Investigation Agency — barely a month old — and the police," Choi said.

Choi also questioned whether South Korea would even be able to detect a repeat of the Jensen Huang operation. "Having split overseas intelligence and counterintelligence investigations in two, would we even know such an operation existed if a second Jensen Huang scheme unfolded?" Choi said.

Choi called the protection of advanced semiconductors a matter of national security that corporate security measures alone cannot handle. "This is not the time to rush headlong into legislation designed to shield the administration," Choi said. "The government must first confront the technology security crisis that risks turning Korea into a hunting ground for global spies."

Choi called on the Lee Jae-myung government and the Democratic Party to immediately restore the NIS's counterintelligence investigative authority, which had been dismantled for political reasons, and to stake everything on defending South Korea's semiconductor sovereignty.


shindw@heraldcorp.com