Personal Information Protection Commission

Public-Private Policy Council Launched for Developing Artificial Intelligence Governance Framework

PIPC launches a joint consultative body for policymaking on AI and data privacy issues, encompassing industry, academia, legal and civil circles

(This is an unofficial and slightly modified translation from a Korean-language press release.) 

The Personal Information Protection Commission (“PIPC”), Korea’s data protection authority, held the inauguration ceremony of the “Public-Private Policy Council for Artificial Intelligence and Privacy” (“Council”) on Oct. 30, 2023. The Council is being launched as part of follow-up measures to the “Policy Direction for Safe Usage of Personal Data in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” (“AI Policy”), which was issued in August. 

The newly formed public-private council is expected to be involved in the development of a balanced regulatory mechanism for artificial intelligence (AI) domestically, considering both the benefits and risks of AI technology, while supporting the Korean government’s effort to play a leadership role in the ongoing global discussions to build an AI governance framework.

The Council is composed of 32 experts and professionals with extensive knowledge and experience in AI, and hail from academia, the legal field, industry, and civil society. Chairperson Haksoo Ko will be the co-chair from the public side, while Kyunghoon Bae, the Chief of LG AI Research, is to serve as the other co-chair representing the private sector. 

Three sub-groups have been set up under the Council, each focusing on 1) Data Processing Standards (headed by Professor Kim Byung-pil of KAIST), 2) Risk Assessment (headed by Professor Park Sang-cheol of Seoul National Univ.), and 3) Transparency (headed by Professor Park Hye-jin of Hanyang Univ.). The Council plans to address a range of issues including, but not limited to: designing and developing AI and privacy regulatory framework; reducing and removing uncertainties around AI environment; and leading the international effort to build a global AI governance system. 

First of all, through joint effort of the public and private sectors, the Council seeks to develop measures to address AI-related issues that newly emerge or call for more AI-specific regulatory approach. Based on the basic principles of safe data processing outlined in the “AI Policy,” the Council will prepare more detailed standards and guidelines for processing personal data in the context of AI that are practical and applicable in the field. The Council will ensure consistency of policy by staying up to date with other policymaking endeavors under way on AI. 

At the same time, the Council plans to work with relevant ministries to make sure that the regulatory framework on AI and data privacy developed by the Council is applied across other sectors and domains, including healthcare, finance and employment. 

As a second point, the Council will reduce uncertainties in the AI environment through linkage with some of the new schemes being implemented by the PIPC, including a “prior adequacy review mechanism ” and “regulatory sandboxes.” The Council plans to share major privacy issues arising from the advance review processes and reflect them in policymaking. In addition, the Council will prepare a "risk assessment criteria by AI types and use cases” based on the knowledge and experience it will gain through implementing regulatory sandboxes.

Finally, the public-private Council will play a role in identifying and proposing key agenda related to AI and data privacy to international institutions such as the UN and the OECD, thereby lead the initiative to build global norms and standards around AI. It will also keep track of ongoing international discussions and review key issues in order to steer the discussions in a direction that is in line with Korea’s interests.

In particular, as PIPC Chairperson Haksoo Ko has recently been appointed to the UN High-level Advisory Body on AI  as a member and co-chair of the “International Interoperability of AI Governance” working group, it is expected that some of the results of the discussion within the Council will be more actively reflected in the global dialogue on AI governance. 

At the inauguration ceremony, Chairperson Ko presented appointment letters to the council members, including Co-chair Kyunghoon Bae. The Co-chairs and the Heads of the four sub-groups took turn presenting on the respective action plans, and affirmed their commitment to contribute to the successful operation of the public-private partnership.

Mr. Bae said, “AI is a fundamentally new technology that could have a major impact on national competitiveness as well as on people’s daily lives, and the joint effort to formulate AI guidance comes at a highly significant and timely moment.” He added, “I will do my best to make the Council a place where we can discuss and decide on how to elevate the level of Korea's AI technology while creating standards for AI regulation. I will also make it an opportunity to promote Korea’s AI industry and earn trust.”

Chairperson Ko stated, “The Council should serve as a forum of discussion for developing a regulatory system that is highly practical and applicable in the real world, and explore agendas to enable Korea to become a more important player in the global dialogue for AI governance.” He emphasized, “The government and businesses will have to work together to create a culture of managing AI’s potential risk to privacy through adequate safeguards from early stages of developing and deploying AI models and related services.”  

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