South Korean ministries and police announced on Thursday that they are blocking access to DeepSeek on their computers after the Chinese AI startup failed to respond to a request from the country’s data watchdog regarding its handling of user information. Concerns over data security prompted various government bodies, including the defence, trade, finance, unification, and foreign ministries, to either restrict or fully block access to DeepSeek’s services. The defence ministry emphasized that measures were particularly enforced for military work-related computers and reiterated security precautions for soldiers regarding generative AI use.
The restrictions come amid broader international scrutiny of DeepSeek’s AI model, R1, which claims to rival leading Western AI technologies at a fraction of the investment. Italy recently launched an investigation into DeepSeek and barred it from processing Italian user data, while Australia has banned its use on government devices following security agency advice. AI expert Kim Jong-hwa suggested that geopolitical tensions between the United States and China may be influencing these actions, but he argued that restrictions were reasonable given unresolved security issues in AI models, including those developed outside China.
Beijing criticized the bans, asserting that China does not compel companies to collect or store data unlawfully and condemning the politicization of technological issues. Meanwhile, South Korea remains focused on strengthening its own semiconductor industry, announcing a $23.5 billion investment in high-tech sectors. Acting President Choi Sang-mok noted that DeepSeek’s emergence signals a shift in the global AI race, moving beyond infrastructure expansion to competition in software and efficiency, further intensifying technological rivalries.
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