The months-long legal dispute between South Korea’s major battery makers centering on alleged talent poaching has shaken up other rivals, according to industry sources Sunday.

Many companies are reportedly concerned about holding on to their employees and protecting their intellectual property rights.

After LG Chem accused SK Innovation in April of recruiting as many as 76 of its employees and stealing its trade secrets, some news reports have suggested the poaching has crossed borders. They cite rumors that many employees from Korean battery makers have moved -- or are considering shifting -- to Chinese competitors like CATL or to European startups.

Considering that Korea and other Asian countries are at the forefront of pioneering lithium-ion battery technologies since the late 1990s, it is not surprising that overseas competitors are eyeing their talents.




According to industry sources, an estimated 15,000 engineers and technicians work at major lithium-ion battery firms in Korea.

LG Chem has said it employs around 6,000 people in its battery division.

Samsung SDI has around 8,500 battery-focused workers, while newcomer SK Innovation is believed to have about 1,000, but it is aggressively expanding its workforce.

SK Innovation does not reveal the number of its battery-related workers.

Because Korean engineers have accumulated nearly 20 years’ worth of know-how to develop high-tech battery components, new industry players such as CATL and Northvolt, based in Sweden, value their skills.

While CATL was founded in 2011 and had an approximately 10,000-strong workforce as of 2016, the 3-year-old startup Northvolt recently revealed that it has “great diversity” in its workforce with staff from 45 nations, including former employees of Tesla, Daimler, LG Chem and Panasonic. The Swedish startup also said it has more than 30 Japanese and Korean engineers.

Some industry officials view the ongoing LG Chem-SK Innovation spat as part of a global race to secure the best talent.

Considering the rapidly growing market for lithium-ion batteries, with the scheduled rollout of electric vehicles in the next few years, the competition for talented engineers is expected to grow.

“We need to be concerned about our talent leaving for foreign competitors like CATL and Northvolt,” said an industry insider. “We need to think about why Korean battery engineers want to leave, like civil engineering workers who left for the Middle East in the 1980s. Is it for better-paying jobs?”

“We need not only financial compensations, but also a corporate culture that encourages our specialized engineers to have high self-esteem is very important,” he said.

Regarding LG Chem’s allegations that by poaching workers SK Innovation also stole key trade secrets, experts say the line between switching jobs and leaking technology should be discussed more carefully.

“Under the Constitution, anyone can freely change jobs, but they are also obligated not to leak key technologies,” said Kim Un-ho, an intellectual property lawyer at Lee & Ko.

In an emerging industry like the lithium-ion battery industry, it is essential for the industry to grow and establish a virtuous cycle of investment in technology and in its workforce along with the efforts to protect IP, the lawyer said.

“An unfortunate aspect of the LG vs. SK case is that the legal battle over IP is taking place outside the country,” Kim said. “The battle might raise the risks of exposing the capabilities of the Korean battery workforce and related IPs to (global competitors).

“And it’s more important for Korea for establish a solid system for IP by dealing with the case strictly,” Kim said.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)