Across Asia: South Korea

Hi-tech spying charges

The world's top producers of computer memory chips are embroiled in an apparent case of industrial espionage after South Korean prosecutors indicted 18 people over alleged technology theft.

Prosecutors said yesterday those involved - including employees of US company Allied Materials and its South Korean unit - are suspected of leaking semiconductor technology belonging to South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co to its domestic rival Hynix Semiconductor Inc.