China hopes South Korea's DeepSeek service suspension will not lead to "security or politicization"

Chinese Government Responds to DeepSeek Service Suspension in Korea
Calls for Korea Not to Politicize Economic and Technological Issues
Personal Information Protection Commission Cites Privacy Concerns

The Personal Information Protection Commission of Korea halted the domestic launch of DeepSeek, a Chinese generative artificial intelligence (AI) service, prompting a rebuttal from the Chinese government.

Guo Zhaokun, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated at a regular local briefing on the 17th, "We hope the relevant country (Korea) will not securitize or politicize economic, trade, science, and technology issues."

Spokesperson Guo also emphasized, "What we want to stress is that the Chinese government has consistently required Chinese companies to strictly comply with local laws as a basis for overseas operations."

On the same day, the Personal Information Protection Commission announced that the DeepSeek app's domestic service was temporarily suspended from 6 p.m. on the 15th. They also explained that the service will resume after improvements and supplements are made in accordance with Korean regulations.

Earlier, as controversy grew regarding DeepSeek's personal information processing, the commission sent an official inquiry to DeepSeek headquarters on the 31st of last month regarding the methods of data collection and processing related to the service.

Based on the responses, it was confirmed that certain aspects did not meet domestic personal information protection laws, and until the service is corrected, DeepSeek was advised to temporarily suspend the service to prevent further concerns.

The commission's main points of criticism include insufficient notification of specific details when providing personal information to third parties and excessive collection of personal information.