The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) of South Korea announced on Monday that new downloads of the Chinese AI application DeepSeek have been halted in the country. This action follows the app’s acknowledgment of its failure to fully comply with certain regulations set by the agency concerning personal data protection.
The PIPC indicated during a media briefing that the app’s service will be reinstated once it makes necessary adjustments to align with South Korea’s privacy legislation.
Effective Saturday, the regulatory measure is aimed at preventing new installations of the DeepSeek app, although its web service remains operable within South Korea.
Last week, the Chinese startup appointed legal representatives in South Korea and admitted to partially overlooking some aspects of the country’s data protection laws, according to the PIPC.
In related developments, Italy’s data protection authority, known as the Garante, mandated last month that DeepSeek cease operations of its chatbot in Italy after the company failed to adequately address the regulator’s concerns regarding its privacy policies.
DeepSeek has not yet issued a response to the request for comment regarding these actions.
When questioned about South Korean governmental efforts to restrict DeepSeek’s operations, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry stated on February 6 that the Chinese government places significant importance on data privacy and security, adhering to the law in its protections.
The spokesperson further emphasized that Beijing would not instruct any company or individual to engage in data collection or storage that violates legal standards.
© Thomson Reuters 2025
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
