South Korea has officially banned new downloads of China’s DeepSeek artificial intelligence chatbot, as reported by the country’s personal data protection watchdog. This decision follows the agency’s concerns regarding the chatbot’s compliance with South Korea’s stringent data protection laws. According to the government agency, the DeepSeek app will only be reinstated for South Korean users once “improvements and remedies” have been implemented to meet the country’s privacy standards.
DeepSeek, which gained tremendous popularity shortly after its release, reached the top of app stores within a week, amassing over a million weekly users in South Korea alone. However, its rapid rise attracted scrutiny from various countries around the world.
As a result, South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission confirmed that the DeepSeek app was removed from both Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store on Saturday evening. This action followed the imposition of a ban by several South Korean government agencies, which prohibited their employees from downloading the chatbot to their work devices.
South Korea’s acting president, Choi Sang-mok, expressed concerns over DeepSeek, describing it as a “shock” that could potentially disrupt the nation’s industries, not just in the AI sector, but across other domains as well.
Despite the suspension of new downloads, South Korean users who already have the app installed on their phones will still be able to use it. Additionally, they may access the chatbot via DeepSeek’s website.
DeepSeek’s rise as one of the world’s leading AI chatbots has raised concerns in multiple jurisdictions. In addition to South Korea, Taiwan and Australia have also banned the app on government devices. However, the Australian government clarified that its decision was based on the “unacceptable risk” to national security, rather than the app’s Chinese origins.
Italy’s regulatory body, which briefly banned ChatGPT in 2023, has followed suit with DeepSeek, placing a temporary ban until the company addresses privacy concerns related to its policies. Furthermore, data protection authorities in both France and Ireland have raised questions about how DeepSeek handles personal information, specifically whether it stores data on servers located in China, as its privacy policy suggests.
Meanwhile, in the United States, lawmakers have proposed legislation to ban DeepSeek from federal government devices, citing surveillance concerns. Several states, including Texas, Virginia, and New York, have already enacted similar measures for their employees.