Photograph) LS Cable & System’s Donghae Plant


■ Taihan Cable & Solution suspected of stealing drawings and layout of submarine cable manufacturing facility 
■ Warned of strong legal action in Korea and abroad if charge is confirmed 
■ Taihan Cable & Solution paid double design fee to GAUN, also contacted LS Cable & System’s suppliers 


LS Cable & System accused Taihan Cable & Solution of technology theft on the 15th, calling it a clear criminal offense and declaring that it would take all available legal actions in Korea and abroad if the charge is confirmed.

According to the press release, the police have put Taihan Cable & Solution under suspicion of violating of the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act and conducted a search and seizure in the company’s head office on the 11th. 

LS Cable & System explained that the crux of the case is whether Taihan Cable & Solution had stolen the drawings and layout of the submarine cable manufacturing facility of LS Cable & System.

“The submarine cables produced by Taihan Cable & Solution are only short cables of 1 to 2 km,” said an LS Cable & System official. “The technology to manufacture and transport long cables measuring tens of kilometers in length and thousands of tons in weight… that is, the facility and plant layout is the key competitive advantage of the submarine cable business.” 

Submarine cable facility layouts are internally established by each manufacturer and are not generally disclosed. LS Cable & System also custom-made its facilities, established manufacturing techniques through R&D investment and sunk costs of hundreds of billions of won in the process of establishing submarine cable units 1 to 4. 

LS Cable & System provided GAUN Architects & Engineers (hereinafter “GAUN”) with drawings specifying the size, weight, characteristics, etc., of each facility for the layout of process facilities for extrusion, wire stranding, etc. 

“Taihan Cable & Solution contacted GAUN first and requested the designs several times. The contract amount was double that of LS Cable & System,” said a company official. “We have also heard that Taihan Cable & Solution has been contacting LS Cable & System’s suppliers for the same equipment manufacture and layout.”