The Ministry of Health and Welfare also blocks access to 'DeepSeek'... "To prevent information leakage"

As major government ministries have begun to completely block access to the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) Deepseek, which has been embroiled in controversy over excessive personal information collection, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has also blocked its employees from accessing Deepseek.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that from around 11 a.m. on the 6th, access to Deepseek from internet-connected PCs has been blocked. However, access to other generative AI programs such as ChatGPT was not blocked.

Earlier, the Ministry had issued security precautions related to generative AI, such as 'prohibition of excessive user information input' and 'prohibition of inputting confidential work materials,' and after further review, decided to block access that morning.

A Ministry of Health and Welfare official stated, "Since Deepseek's information collection system is understood to be different from existing services like ChatGPT, we have temporarily blocked it to prevent information leakage," adding, "We will further review whether to continue the block."

This move by government ministries to block access to Deepseek has spread beyond security and economic departments to social ministries, following the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the National Intelligence Service sending official letters on the 4th to central administrative agencies and local governments urging caution in using generative AI such as Deepseek. After the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Defense, and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy began restricting Deepseek usage the previous day, as of this morning, the Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and the National Police Agency have also blocked access to generative AI through their work networks.