South Korea removes Deepseek from app stores due to privacy concerns

According to South Korea’s Personal Data Protection Commission, fresh downloads of China’s DeepSeek artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot are not permitted.

The government agency stated that the AI model will be made available again to South Korean users once «improvements and remedies» are implemented to ensure compliance with the country’s personal data protection laws.

DeepSeek became extremely popular in South Korea and quickly rose to the top of app stores, with over one million weekly users. However, its rise in popularity has prompted attention from countries throughout the world, who have imposed limitations on the app based on privacy and national security concerns.

According to South Korea’s Personal Data Protection Commission, the DeepSeek app became unavailable on Apple’s App Store and Google Play late Saturday night. This arose after numerous South Korean government offices prohibited their employees from downloading the chatbot to their work computers.

Choi Sang-mok, South Korea’s acting president, has termed Deepseek as a «shock» that could have an impact on the country’s businesses other than AI. Despite the suspension of new downloads, those who already have it on their phones can continue to use it or access it via DeepSeek’s website.