New downloads of DeepSeek suspended in South Korea

South Korea's data protection authority on Monday said new downloads of the Chinese AI app DeepSeek had been suspended in the country after DeepSeek acknowledged failing to take into account some of the agency's rules on protecting personal data.

The service of the app will be resumed once improvements are made in accordance with the country's privacy law, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) said in a media briefing.

The measure that came into force on Saturday aims to block new downloads of the app, the agency said, though DeepSeek's web service remains accessible in the country.

The Chinese startup appointed legal representatives last week in South Korea and had acknowledged partially neglecting considerations of the country's data protection law, the PIPC said.

Italy's data protection authority, the Garante, said last month it had ordered DeepSeek to block its chatbot in the country after failing to address the regulator's concerns over its privacy policy.

DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

When asked about earlier moves by South Korean government departments to block DeepSeek, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told a briefing on February 6 that the Chinese government attached great importance to data privacy and security and protected it in accordance with the law.

The spokesperson also said Beijing would never ask any company or individual to collect or store data in breach of laws.