DeepSeek banned in South Korea: Know why country's industry ministry has enforced a temporary ban

South Korea's industry ministry has temporarily banned DeepSeek on security concerns.

DeepSeek (DeepSeek)

South Korea's industry ministry has temporarily banned employee access to Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek due to security concerns, a ministry official said on Wednesday, as the government urges caution on generative AI services.

The government issued a notice on Tuesday calling for ministries and agencies to exercise caution about using AI services including DeepSeek and ChatGPT at work, officials said.

State-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power said it had blocked use of AI services including DeepSeek earlier this month.

The temporary ban makes South Korea the latest government to warn about DeepSeek.

Last month, Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers called on Australians to be cautious when using the Chinese AI model while U.S. officials are also looking at DeepSeek's national security implications.

South Korea's information privacy watchdog plans to ask DeepSeek about how the personal information of users is managed.

Chinese startup DeepSeek's launch of its latest AI models last month sent shockwaves through the tech world. The company says its models are on a par with or better than products developed in the United States and are produced at a fraction of the cost.

Tech giant Kakao Corp has told its employees to refrain from using DeepSeek due to security fears, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday, a day after the company announced its partnership with generative artificial intelligence heavyweight OpenAI.

Korean tech companies are now being more careful about using generative AI. SK Hynix, a maker of AI chips, has restricted access to generative AI services, and allowed limited use when necessary, a spokesperson said.

Internet giant Naver said it had asked employees not to use generative AI services that store data outside the company.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin, Joyce Lee, Hyonhee Shin, Hyunsu Yim, writing by Ju-min Park; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Kate Mayberry and Alex Richardson)