S.Korea court overturns conviction against contractor on Taiwan submarines

InnoTec TSS AG

12/01/2024 05:49

By Ju-min Park
       SEOUL, Jan 12 (Reuters) - A South Korean appeals court
has thrown out the conviction of a local company charged with
violating trade laws for its work on Taiwan's new military
submarine program, a ruling reviewed by Reuters showed.
    Prosecutors had accused SI Innotec, a marine technology
firm, of supplying Taiwan with submarine manufacturing equipment
without a government approval. 
    A lower court in 2022 found SI Innotec guilty and handed a
company executive a suspended jail sentence. The firm has denied
wrongdoing and appealed, saying that the equipment was not
designed solely for military purposes and did not involve
sensitive technology. 
    A three-judge panel at the Changwon District Court on
Thursday found there was not sufficient evidence to consider the
equipment as military goods that require export approval from
the government, according to the ruling.
    "The evidence submitted by the prosecution alone is not
sufficient to acknowledge that the equipment in this case is
equivalent to production equipment specially designed for
submarine production," the panel said in the SI Innotec ruling.
    Prosecutors did not immediately respond to a Reuters request
for comment. SI Innotec declined to comment.
    Reuters reported in October that South Korean authorities
cited the risk of Chinese economic retaliation when they charged
SI Innotec for its work on Taiwan's submarine project.
    Reuters found two other South Korean companies, Keumha Naval
Technology (KHNT) and S2&K, were also on trial on charges of
breaking trade laws over their work on the Taiwan submarine
program, and one of their executives was accused of industrial
espionage. KHNT was not immediately reachable for comment. S2&K
declined to comment.
    Amid rising military tensions with China, Taiwan unveiled
its first home-grown submarine on Sept. 28 in the southern port
city of Kaohsiung. 

 (Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Ed Davies and Gerry
Doyle)
 ((ju-min.park@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
ju-min.park.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))