Police to add 79 investigators in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province as technology theft cases surge 40%

South Korean police said Thursday they will expand their dedicated investigative workforce to combat a surge in crimes involving the theft of nationally important technologies and their sale abroad, with a particular focus on the greater Seoul metropolitan area where major corporations are concentrated.

The Security Investigation Bureau under the Korean National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters announced plans Thursday to add 79 investigators to strengthen its response to technology theft crimes, including the overseas leakage of nationally critical technologies and other economic security offenses.

The expansion will focus on Seoul and southern Gyeonggi Province, where large corporate headquarters and advanced research and development personnel are concentrated alongside key national strategic industries including defense, semiconductors and secondary batteries.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and the Gyeonggi Province Southern Police Agency each currently operate one dedicated technology theft investigation unit; both will be expanded to two units. Police plan to designate specialized teams by technology sector to bolster their capacity to handle large-scale and complex cases.

Police also plan to strengthen nationwide response capabilities. Industrial security liaison officers will be stationed at all provincial and metropolitan police agencies across the country, tasked with providing victim consultations to companies, universities and research institutions, supporting and protecting small and medium-sized enterprises, and conducting outreach and prevention campaigns. The system is designed to detect technology theft crimes and immediately channel intelligence into active investigations.

The push comes as technology theft crimes have been rising sharply. Police detected 179 such cases last year and arrested 378 suspects — an increase of more than 40 percent in a single year. Compared with 2024, the number of cases rose 45.5 percent from 123, while arrests climbed 41.5 percent from 267.

Through July this year, police had already detected 68 cases and arrested 144 suspects. Eight cases involving nationally core technologies were uncovered last year alone, underscoring the persistent nature of the threat.

"Once a technology is leaked, the resulting damage is nearly impossible to recover from, and the harm can spread to jobs, corporate survival and the nation's overall competitiveness," a Korean National Police Agency official said. "We will use this personnel expansion as an opportunity to ensure timely investigations into technology theft crimes and further strengthen our economic security investigative capabilities so that swift, professional investigations can be carried out anywhere in the country."