A former employee of major Japanese chemical company Asahi Kasei Corp. was arrested Thursday over the alleged leak of confidential information about adhesives used in semiconductor manufacturing. Shoichi Furukawa, 66, is suspected of leaking the information to a Chinese firm, according to Asahi Kasei. Aichi prefectural police have not disclosed whether he admitted the charge. Furukawa previously headed a manufacturing technology department, among other roles, and left Asahi Kasei at the end of November 2018. Police said a later employer based in Nagoya consulted them in August 2024 about a separate suspected information leak involving Furukawa. Analysis of items seized from his home, including a computer, confirmed that he had taken Asahi Kasei trade secrets. Investigators allege he failed to return a digital storage medium containing production data for Novacure, a latent curing agent used in adhesives and classified as a trade secret, around Nov. 30, 2018, then emailed the data to a person affiliated with another company around Sept. 13, 2024.