South Korea Enhances Research Security in Universities

South Korea has begun establishing a national research security system under the revised National R&D Innovation Act to prevent the leakage of advanced technologies from universities and research institutions.

Legal Regulation and the New System

The revised National R&D Innovation Act expands universities' security obligations by incorporating a sensitive project category into the system.

The government aims to unite universities, specialized research security institutions, and ministries into a nationwide joint response system.

Technology Leak Cases

It was discovered that a student researching power conversion technology for electric vehicles at a university in Seoul had saved materials to the cloud and smuggled them abroad.

As a result of investigations conducted by the police, the suspect's laptop was seized and examined to determine whether industrial technology protection laws had been violated.

Increase in the Number of International Students

According to Ministry of Education data, the number of international students in higher education institutions has seen a significant increase in recent years.

The number of international graduate students has also more than doubled over the past decade.

Nationwide Increase in Leaks

National Police Agency data revealed that detected technology leak cases rose significantly compared to the previous year.

Countries such as China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the United States were mentioned in a significant portion of the overseas-originated leaks.

Inter-Institutional Security Vulnerabilities

Experts point out that research security management in universities fails to keep pace with the speed of international cooperation.

Factors such as irregular inter-institutional audits and the failure to report suspicious situations out of fear of reputational loss create vulnerabilities.