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South Korea has restricted access to Chinese AI startup DeepSeek from government and military work computers, citing concerns over data security and user information management. This move follows DeepSeek’s failure to respond to an inquiry from South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission regarding its data handling practices.
Multiple ministries, including defense, trade, finance, and police, confirm their implementation of blocking measures to protect sensitive information from potential leaks by DeepSeek generative AI platform.
Military and Government Restrictions
The defense ministry stated that “blocking measures for DeepSeek have been implemented specifically for military work-related PCs with Internet.” It also emphasized that the ministry, which oversees active-duty soldiers deployed against the nuclear-armed North, has also reiterated the security precautions regarding the use of generative AI for each unit and soldier, taking into account security and technical concerns.
South Korean police informed AFP that they have also blocked access to DeepSeek, while the trade ministry stated that access has been “temporarily restricted on all its computers.” The finance ministry similarly announced that it has “implemented measures to prevent the leakage of personal and confidential information to DeepSeek for all employees.”
DeepSeek faces this crackdown as part of global actions against its data collection methods. Italy launched an inquiry into the R1 AI model from DeepSeek and simultaneously restricted the company from processing Italian data. DeepSeek face a total ban from Australian government devices through official advisory security recommendations.
Kim Jong-hwa, a professor at Cheju Halla University’s artificial intelligence department, noted that “amid growing rivalry between the United States and China, he suspected ‘political factors’ could be influencing the reaction to DeepSeek—but said bans were still justified.”
“From a technical standpoint, AI models like ChatGPT also face numerous security-related issues that have not yet been fully addressed. Given that China operates under a communist regime, I question whether they consider security issues as much as OpenAI does when developing innovative technologies. We cannot currently assess how much attention has been paid to security concerns by DeepSeek when developing its chatbot. Therefore, I believe that taking proactive measures is not too excessive.” he added.
China’s Response
China has strongly opposed the bans on DeepSeek, with foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun stating, “China has always opposed the generalisation of national security and the politicisation of economic, trade and technological issues.”
Beijing further emphasized that the Chinese government “will never require enterprises or individuals to illegally collect or store data” and vowed to “firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.”
DeepSeek introduced its R1 chatbot last month, claiming that it “matches the capacity of artificial intelligence pacesetters in the United States for a fraction of the investment, upending the global industry.” The company relies on “less-advanced H800 chips—permitted for sale to China until 2023 under US export controls—to power its large learning model.”
South Korea increases its support for its AI and semiconductor industries through another 34 trillion won investment directed towards advanced technologies. Acting President Choi Sang-mok stressed the necessity of competing in global AI territory when he said:
Recently, a Chinese company unveiled the AI model DeepSeek R1, which offers high performance at a low cost, making a fresh impact in the market. The global AI competition may evolve from a simple infrastructure scale-up rivalry to a more complex competition that includes software capabilities and other factors.
The restrictions on DeepSeek underscore the increasing complexity of AI regulation, as nations balance security concerns with technological advancement and international competition.
