The South Korean data protection regulator has announced that it has restricted the download of the DeepSeek app. This was reported by Reuters.
The app will be available again after DeepSeek makes the necessary changes to comply with privacy laws in South Korea. For now, only the ability to download the app is restricted in the country, but not its operation.
The Personal Information Protection Commission said that last week an official legal representative of DeepSeek appeared in South Korea and admitted that the startup had partially neglected some requirements of the data protection law.
A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had previously commented on the South Korean government's early actions to block the chatbot and noted that the Chinese government attaches great importance to data privacy and security and protects it in accordance with the law. The spokesperson also added that Beijing will never require any company or individual to collect or store data in violation of the law.
Earlier, DeepSeek was banned from hundreds of companies around the world, as well as the US Navy, Pentagon, and Congress.