South Korea suspends local service of Chinese AI app DeepSeek

The Personal Information Protection Commission said the service was suspended at 6 pm on Saturday and will be resumed after "improvements and remedies" are made in line with South Korea's personal information protection laws

Seoul: The government said on Monday it has temporarily suspended the local service of Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) app DeepSeek over concerns about its data collection practices.

The Personal Information Protection Commission said the service was suspended at 6 pm on Saturday and will be resumed after “improvements and remedies” are made in line with South Korea’s personal information protection laws.

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The measures come after multiple government ministries and agencies blocked internal access to the AI service amid concerns about the startup’s data management practices, reports Yonhap news agency.

The commission sent a formal inquiry to DeepSeek last month seeking clarification on the service’s data collection and management methods.

DeepSeek has since assigned a representative in South Korea and acknowledged shortcomings in considering local protection laws while also expressing its will to actively cooperate with the commission.

Meanwhile, Chinese Ambassador Dai Bing last week cited the joint communique on AI signed by South Korea, China and other countries at a recent summit in Paris, amid Seoul’s moves to block access to China’s AI model DeepSeek over security concerns.

It was the first public comment by the top envoy to Seoul as South Korea has been taking steps to restrict access to DeepSeek across all government agencies, citing risks of personal and confidential data leaks.

South Korea’s spy agency has sent a notice to the government urging it to take precautions over its use. “At the Paris Artificial Intelligence Summit, China, along with South Korea, France and 60 other countries and international organisations jointly signed the Declaration on the Development of Inclusive and Sustainable AI for the Benefit of Humanity and the Planet,” reflecting a shared commitment to the safe, sustainable, and fair development of AI,” Dai said in a posting on the social media channel X. Dai also noted that DeepSeek has “sparked global discussions.”

近期中国企业 #DeepSeek 推出的 #AI 大模型引发全球热议。在刚刚结束的巴黎人工智能行动峰会上，#中国 同 #韩国、#法国 等60个国家和国际组织共同签署《关于发展包容、可持续的人工智能造福人类与地球的声明》，体现了对人工智能安全、可持续和公平发展的共同追求。

作为 #人工智能… pic.twitter.com/2eGsvqhVFm

— Dai Bing 戴兵 다이빙 (@AmbDaiBing) February 13, 2025