The Personal Information Protection Commission, directly under the Prime Minister, noted regarding claims that a hacker organization supported by the Chinese government is behind the SK Telecom SIM card information hacking incident that "linking individuals to organizations or nations is a dangerous idea." They also said they received a positive response from the Chinese side regarding the proposal for both countries to jointly respond to incidents like the hacking of SK Telecom.
Choi Jang-hyuk, the vice chairman of the Personal Information Protection Commission visiting China, said at a press conference on the 29th, "It is difficult to definitively conclude who is behind the (SK Telecom hacking) incident." He added, "In the process of AI development, both countries should cooperate positively, but they should also jointly prevent the negative aspects of AI being used to infiltrate and leak national critical infrastructure or data, to which the Chinese side responded positively."
Earlier, Vice Chairman Choi met with representatives from eight Chinese internet corporations, including the China Internet Information Office, TikTok, Alibaba, Temu, Xiaomi, and DeepSeek, the previous day. Choi stated, "Given that there was an action regarding DeepSeek (collecting personal information from domestic users), I want to establish communication channels with the Information Office to continue regular dialogues rather than one-time discussions," and added, "There are differences in the personal information laws of both countries, so I fully explained our legal systems. I received a response that there would be ongoing discussions on the relevant practical matters from the Chinese side."
Vice Chairman Choi also said he conveyed to the Information Office the issue of the lack of data transparency from Chinese companies that have been problematic in Korea. He stated that there have been instances of violations of domestic laws due to Chinese companies not clarifying their personal information processing policies while conducting business in Korea, and that he requested trust recovery through improved transparency. He mentioned, "China's National Intelligence Law and Data Security Law require agencies or organizations to cooperate in providing data according to government needs, and I requested to make these procedures transparent, to which I received a positive response" and added, "However, there have been no cases so far of this law being invoked to demand data from Korean corporations."
He stated that he received a reaffirmation of compliance with South Korea's personal information protection laws from DeepSeek, a generative AI company from China that was embroiled in a controversy over personal information collection. Previously, DeepSeek garnered significant interest in Korea by showcasing features comparable to OpenAI's ChatGPT, but faced a halt on new downloads from the Personal Information Protection Commission due to excessive personal information collection controversies. Following corrective efforts, downloads were resumed on the 28th of last month.
Vice Chairman Choi mentioned, "Chinese corporations recognize the importance of the Korean market and want to do business for a long time while complying with domestic laws," and added that he had heard from them multiple times that "they will take time to comply with the personal information laws."
Regarding concerns over personal information collection by Chinese-made electronic products with AI capabilities, he stated that he would encourage the Personal Information Protection Commission's Privacy by Design (PbD) certification. However, he mentioned that no Chinese electronic products have yet received this certification, although one corporation has requested it.