"To Prevent Leakage of Confidential Information"... Ministry of Economy and Finance Joins 'DeepSeek Ban'

Korea Economic Daily

Summary

The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that it is reviewing blocking access to DeepSeek due to the risk of information leakage.
It was reported that several central ministries have already blocked DeepSeek access to prevent confidential information leakage to Chinese servers.
It was explained that security concerns are growing due to the obligation to cooperate with information activities under Chinese law.

Access Block Consideration

The Ministry of Economy and Finance has decided to join the 'DeepSeek ban' following the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is to prevent sensitive government data and confidential information from being transferred to Chinese servers in advance.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 5th, the Information Technology Division of the Planning and Coordination Office is reviewing whether to block access to DeepSeek. A representative from the ministry stated, "We have reminded all employees not to input confidential information into DeepSeek," adding, "There is a high possibility that we will conclude with a complete access block."

According to official documents sent by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the National Intelligence Service to central ministries, they contain instructions not to input confidential information when using DeepSeek. Although the documents do not explicitly prohibit the use of DeepSeek, departments that were uncertain about whether this recommendation would be well observed in practice have concluded with a complete access block. Starting with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have already blocked access, and it is known that the Ministry of Economy and Finance will soon join.

DeepSeek's servers are located in China. How the information inputted while using DeepSeek is processed remains unclear. Moreover, according to China's National Intelligence Law, Cybersecurity Law, and Data Security Law, all organizations and citizens in China are required to cooperate with Chinese intelligence activities under the pretext of protecting national security and public interests. This is why central ministries are moving to block DeepSeek completely.

It is not only the Korean government that has moved to block DeepSeek. The United States Navy and the Department of Defense have banned the use of DeepSeek for security and ethical reasons. In European countries like Italy, downloading DeepSeek from platforms like the Apple Store has been completely blocked.

Reporter Nam Jeong-min peux@hankyung.com