Personal Information Protection Commission Chairperson Goh Haksoo Visits Washington, D.C. to Explain Korea's Data Policies

The Personal Information Protection Commission announced on April 22 that Chairperson Goh Haksoo will visit Washington, D.C., United States, to attend the 'Global Privacy Summit' hosted by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). Chairperson Goh will be on a four-day, three-night business trip starting on April 21, during which he plans to meet with representatives from think tanks associated with the Trump administration to explain South Korea's data transfer policies, which have been identified as trade barriers.

On April 22 (local time), Chairperson Goh will first meet with Melissa Holyoak, Commissioner of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) under the new administration, to discuss data and personal information policies in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). During this meeting, Chairperson Goh will share plans for the upcoming Global Privacy Assembly (GPA), which will be held in South Korea in September, and seek opportunities for cooperation.

Goh Haksoo, Chairperson of the Personal Information Protection Commission, is speaking at the 2025 Industry Personal Information Policy Meeting held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul. Provided by the Personal Information Protection Commission

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Additionally, Chairperson Goh will participate in a roundtable hosted by the Brookings Institution, one of the leading think tanks in the United States, which will be attended by representatives from the U.S. government, industry, and major supervisory authorities from various countries. At this event, he will emphasize the need to establish trustworthy AI data governance and highlight the role of personal information supervisory authorities in this process.

In particular, Chairperson Goh will explain South Korea's data transfer policies, which were recently mentioned in the United States Trade Representative (USTR)'s National Trade Estimate (NTE) report. In the 2025 NTE published last month, the USTR identified as trade barriers the provisions in South Korea's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) that restrict the overseas transfer of personal information, as well as the authority of the Personal Information Protection Commission to impose fines based on a company's global revenue. Following the comprehensive revision of the PIPA in 2023, the upper limit for fines was raised to 3% of total revenue.

Chairperson Goh also plans to share other key policies of the Commission, such as the prior adequacy assessment system and the one-stop innovation support center, while also examining policy trends in digital trade, AI, and data privacy governance in response to the launch of the new U.S. administration.

Meanwhile, Chairperson Goh will participate in the 2025 Global Privacy Summit, where he will focus on discussing 'AI Governance in the Asia-Pacific Region.' The IAPP, established in 2000, is an international association of privacy professionals, and the annual summit is attended by more than 5,000 participants, including global privacy supervisory authorities, academics, and experts. At the policy forum hosted by the Center for Information Policy Leadership, a side event of the summit, Chairperson Goh will serve as a panelist in the discussion on 'Data and Privacy Policies to Foster AI Innovation.'

Chairperson Goh will also meet with heads of personal information supervisory authorities from around the world and chief privacy officers (CPOs) of global big tech companies. He will hold meetings with Le Chern Wernhong, Chairperson of the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) of Singapore, and Fahad Al-Ebdi, Head of the National Data Management Office (NDMO) of Saudi Arabia, among others. Among global big tech companies, he will meet with chief privacy officers (CPOs) from Microsoft, Google, Meta, and others to discuss safe data and personal information utilization measures for trustworthy AI.

Chairperson Goh stated, "Amid rapidly changing global circumstances, we will carefully formulate policies that take into account technological and global policy changes, while continuing international cooperation and dialogue to ensure that the principles of innovation and trust pursued by our Commission are reflected in global AI data governance."

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