On September 13, 2026, South Korea passed an amendment to its criminal law, expanding the scope of the espionage offense from "enemy states" to "foreign or equivalent entities", and it came into force on the same day. Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning responded that China consistently requires enterprises to comply with laws and regulations, and also calls on all countries to provide a fair, impartial, non-discriminatory business environment. Statistics from the Korean police show that of the 33 overseas technology leakage cases seized in 2025, 54.5% flowed to China. Previously, a South Korean court sentenced a former Samsung researcher to seven years in prison in April for leaking semiconductor technology to China.