Blueprints of a submarine designed by Hanwha Ocean (formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering) have been leaked to Taiwan, with the police currently investigating the matter. The leaked submarine blueprints pertain to the DSME1400 model, a variant of the 209-class KSS-1 submarine. Three of them were commissioned by Indonesia in 2011 for US$1.1 billion when the company was Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
According to the police on Jan. 4, the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency is investigating two individuals, including a former Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering employee for alleged technology leakage, without detention. The employee and others are accused of stealing the submarine blueprints while working at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and later moving to a submarine development consulting company, Company B.
The police suspect that the blueprints were leaked during a collaboration between Company B and CSBC Corporation, based in Taiwan, during the development of Taiwan’s Haikun domestically designed and built submarine.
Company B is already in trial, accused of illegally exporting parts and other components used in the Haikun production last year. In August, the first-instance court sentenced a Company B executive to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a two-year suspended sentence and a fine of 1 billion won for violating the Foreign Trade Act.
In relation to this incident, Hanwha Ocean stated, “We are fully committed to protecting national core technologies and have established a cooperative and collaborative system with national intelligence agencies to prevent recurrence. We plan to hold the criminals involved in this case accountable and pursue strict legal actions.”