South Korea Blocks DeepSek Due To Security Issues

JAKARTA South Korea's Ministry of Industry has temporarily blocked employee access to China's artificial intelligence startup (AI), DeepSek, due to security concerns. This was revealed by a ministry official on Wednesday, February 5. This step was taken in line with the government's increasing vigilance on generative AI services.

The South Korean government issued a notice on Tuesday, February 4, asking ministries and government agencies to exercise caution in using AI services, including DeepSek and ChatGPT, in the work environment.

The country's electricity company, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, has been blocking the use of AI services such as DeepSek since earlier this month. In addition, South Korea's Ministry of Defense has also banned access to DeepSek on military computers, officials said on Thursday.

South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also restricted DeepSek's access to computers connected to external networks, Yonhap News Agency reported. However, the ministry declined to provide further details regarding the security measures taken.

DeepSek itself has not yet responded to requests for comment via email. It is not clear whether the South Korean government will also take similar action against ChatGPT.

More And More Countries Ban DeepSek

With this policy, South Korea is the latest country to limit or warn about the use of DeepSek. Previously, Australia and Taiwan had banned the use of DeepSek in all government apparatus this week, citing the potential security risks of the AI startup from China.

In Europe, the Italian Data Protection Authority ordered DeepSek to block its chatbots in the country in January after the company failed to comply with requested privacy regulations. A number of other countries, including the US and India, are also reviewing the impact of DeepSek's use.

In South Korea, the Information Privacy Supervisory Agency plans to ask DeepSek to provide clarification on how they manage users' personal data.

DeepSek And Fear Of China's AI Domination

The launch of the latest AI model from DeepSeek last month rocked the world of technology. The Chinese startup claims that their AI models are equivalent or even superior to US-made products, with much cheaper production costs.

Korean technology companies are now increasingly vigilant in using a generative AI. South Korea's largest messaging app operator Kakao Corp has asked its employees not to use DeepSeek for security reasons. This step was taken the day after Kakao announced a partnership with the AI giant OpenAI.

Not only Kakao, chipmaker SK Hynix also limits access to a generating AI service and only allows its use under certain conditions. Meanwhile, the Korean web portal giant, Naver, asked its employees not to use AI services that store data outside the company.

With the increasing number of countries and companies limiting DeepSek, it appears that global concerns about China's AI influence in the security and technology sectors are increasing.