▲ On July 8 last year, a plenary meeting of the AI Privacy Public-Private Policy Council was held at the Seoul AI Hub in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
The Personal Information Protection Commission announced today (2nd) that it launched the ‘2026 AI Privacy Public-Private Policy Council’ and held its first plenary meeting at the International Conference Room of the Bank Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul.
In response to the rapidly changing personal information processing environment following the emergence of ChatGPT, the Personal Information Protection Commission established the public-private policy council in October 2023 to create a regulatory framework that jointly considers both the benefits and risks of AI.
This year’s council consists of 37 members from industry, academia, legal circles, and civic organizations, aiming to enhance expertise in emerging technologies such as agents and physical AI, and to strengthen representation in AI digital ethics and consumer protection.
The government chair is Song Kyung-hee, Chairperson of the Personal Information Protection Commission, and the private sector co-chair is Judge Kwon Chang-hwan of the Busan Rehabilitation Court.
The council will operate with three subcommittees: Data Processing Standards, Risk Management, and Data Subject Rights.
Each subcommittee will analyze the flow and risk factors of personal information processing in the changing technological environment and will discuss and establish standards including risk assessment and reduction measures, as well as effective rights protection for data subjects.
Furthermore, major issues identified through the ‘Public AI Transition Innovation Support Help Desk’ operated by the Personal Information Protection Commission will be discussed in the council and the results will be reflected in guidelines and manuals.
The council’s findings will also be shared with related organizations like the National AI Strategy Committee and the AI Safety Research Institute to enhance the alignment and effectiveness of national AI policies.
Co-chair Kwon Chang-hwan stated, “As we transition beyond Large Language Models to the era of agents and physical AI, I hope the public-private council will serve as a platform to protect citizen rights while facilitating predictable innovation in industry fields.”
Song Kyung-hee, Chairperson of the Personal Information Protection Commission, remarked, “2026 is an important turning point where AI permeates deeply into daily life,” and expressed the intention to “operate the council as a practical policy platform for designing safety measures together with the public and private sectors.”
(Photo provided by the Personal Information Protection Commission, Yonhap News)