Lee urges stronger safeguards against privacy breaches, deepfake crimes

President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday urged the government to strengthen safeguards against privacy breaches and deepfake-related crime as Korea prepares for the AI era.

“We may soon have to live alongside AI — that rivals or even surpasses human intelligence — in virtually every aspect of our society,” Lee said during a policy briefing by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) and the Personal Information Protection Commission at the Blue House in Jongno District, central Seoul. 

“[The AI era] may be comparable to humanity’s discovery of fire or the invention of the steam engine and electricity. This is a crucial opportunity for us, but an opportunity can become another crisis if we fail to make good use of it.”

The president stressed that protecting personal information would be one of the government’s key tasks.

“Data is one of the most important resources for industrial development in the age of AI, but it is also closely tied to people’s dignity, rights and property,” he said. “It’s important to ensure that data breaches involving personal information do not threaten the public’s safety and property.”

He also called for stronger penalties against companies responsible for such leaks or the misuse of personal information.

“As we recently decided, penalties for personal information data leaks or misuse should be raised substantially so that they far exceed the cost of protecting [the data],” Lee said. “Only then will companies make genuine efforts to safeguard the information.

“That is why the amount of administrative fines has recently increased.”

He added that some companies appeared to believe that the government has singled them out.

“Some companies seem to be asking, ‘Why are you targeting only us?’” Lee said. “It would be good to make it clear that […] these measures were taken in accordance with the law and established policy, without regard to the characteristics of any particular company.”

The remarks were widely interpreted as referring to local e-commerce giant Coupang. Following a massive personal data breach last year that resulted in government sanctions, the company claims that it has been subjected to discriminatory treatment by the government and has even lobbied U.S. officials over the incident.

Lee also instructed officials to strengthen measures against deepfake crime and closely reviewed regulations requiring AI-generated content to carry disclosure labels.

“These days, it has become so difficult to distinguish between real and AI-generated content,” he said. “People tend to trust what they see, so if AI-generated content is not clearly labeled as such, it could cause serious misunderstandings.”

“The risks posed by AI-generated content are becoming a reality, and we need measures to address them,” he added.

During the discussion, he also referred to a recent controversy, in which an obscene AI-generated image of Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Un-ju circulated online. She was reportedly hospitalized due to severe mental shock from the incident.

Kim Jong-cheol, the chairperson of the KMCC, said that the commission was preparing legislation to regulate such content at the distribution level.

Ryu Je-myung, the second vice minister of science and ICT, added, “[Lawmakers have] proposed legislation to prevent users from removing or tampering with labels indicating that content is AI-generated.”

Lee, however, called for the government to take a more proactive role.

“You should not simply say that the National Assembly is working on it,” he said. “The government should first determine its own direction, then seek cooperation if necessary.”

The president also brought up Anthropic’s flagship AI model Mythos, which has drawn international attention after it was subjected to export restrictions by the United States.

Mentioning the U.S. export controls on Mythos 5, Lee said that countries are likely becoming increasingly uneasy about relying on foreign AI technology.

“Watching Mythos suddenly become unavailable and then available again must have greatly increased anxiety among many countries,” he said. “We should assume that access could be cut off and prepare accordingly.”

Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon responded that Korea would be capable of developing an AI model comparable to Mythos “if the government provides sufficient infrastructure support.”

Dismissing regional neglect allegations

Later in the day, Lee discussed regional development measures, including Hyundai Motor Group’s investment in Saemangeum, set to be a high-tech and renewable energy hub in North Jeolla, during policy briefings by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs; the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries; and the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

When addressing Hyundai Motor’s investment plan for the Saemangeum project, Lee dismissed criticism from some political figures who argued that North Jeolla had been overlooked in major investment decisions.

“It’s true that another [proposed project for Gwangju and South Jeolla] is on an almost unimaginable scale at 800 trillion won [$540.8 billion], but Hyundai Motor’s 9 trillion won investment in Saemangeum is also enormous,” he said.

Last month, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix announced their plans to invest 800 trillion won to build four new chip facilities in Gwangju and South Jeolla.

Lee stressed that the investment was the result of private-sector business decisions rather than government allocation.

“We are not establishing another state-owned company,” he said. “Samsung and SK made decisions based on economic principles, staking their own futures on them.

“We cannot simply say, ‘That region feels left out, so let’s give them [a development project] as well.’”

Lee then criticized what he described as irresponsible political rhetoric surrounding regional development.

“Ordinary citizens may wonder, ‘Why are we getting only this much?’ But it’s a serious problem when people in positions of responsibility make unrealistic claims,” he said. “If you raise expectations with promises that cannot be fulfilled, you only leave people even more disappointed. That is irresponsible.”

He added that the government regarded the Saemangeum investment as one of its most significant achievements.

After hearing that tax revenue was projected to reach 18 trillion won, roughly double the original estimate, Lee instructed officials to review whether revenue from the special rural development tax could be used to expand the rural basic income program.

The rural basic income program provides regular cash payments to residents of rural communities to revitalize local economies.

“The rural basic income program is currently a two-year pilot project,” Lee said. “If it becomes a permanent program, it could have an even greater effect in attracting people to rural communities.”

Reforms don’t need to be loud

Lee also praised the Health Ministry’s policy, which increased medical school admissions for regional physician training, while emphasizing that successful reforms do not necessarily require public confrontation.

“Some people mistakenly believe that reform has to be loud,” Lee said. “But it should be carried out as quietly, smoothly and reasonably as possible while minimizing conflict and resistance.”

He also addressed rumors that the National Pension Service (NPS) had boosted domestic stock purchases ahead of the June 3 local elections to support the stock market.

“Did the NPS actually make additional purchases before the election?” Lee asked, which NPS Chairman Kim Sung-joo strongly denied.

“Not at all,” the chairman said. “We did not make any special additional purchases. We simply maintained our existing holdings, and their value increased as the Kospi rose.”

Lee smiled and responded, “I asked so you could confirm that.”

During the meeting, the president praised the overall improvement in ministries’ presentations compared to the first round of policy briefings, but he issued a warning to agency heads who remained unprepared.

“The presentations appear to be much better than they were during the first round of policy briefings,” he said. “But yesterday, I saw that, despite being publicly criticized before, some agency heads still do not understand what their own organizations are supposed to do. That is unacceptable.”

Lee said that agency heads must fully understand the core responsibilities of their organizations, and those who do not understand them can “not be tolerated.” 

“If anyone is still in that situation, I am warning you in advance: Stay up all night if necessary, but come prepared with at least a basic understanding of your own work,” he said.

BY OH HYUN-SEOK, HA JUN-HO [[email protected]]