Employees, Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants in Korea

In recent years, the rapid advances in technology and the evolution in social and economic information have led to the increasing importance of trade secrets in Korea. Advanced technology in the field of information and environmentally sound technology has also increased the possibility of accidentally or intentionally acquiring information, and has been accompanied by an increase in sharp practice related to trade secrets. With the increase in industrial espionage through the enticement of present and/or former employees of a company by a competitor, the issue of protecting trade secrets has gained a great deal of attention. Thus, an efficient legal system became a necessity in order to prevent acts of unfair competition such as the misappropriation of trade secrets and to maintain fair competition in the market. In the presence of large scale global labour mobility, the protection of trade secrets and the law on post-contractual non-compete clauses (restrictive covenants) in an employment context have presented a major problem. The paper starts with the protection of trade secrets in an employment context, then moves to restrictive covenants, post-contractual competition issues and finally problems of procedure and enforcement.