South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission said on Thursday the European Commission has decided to continue maintaining its Adequacy Decision under the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for South Korea.

The commission said the decision follows the first review since the adequacy decision for South Korea in December 2021.

The EU adequacy decision is a system in which the EU recognises that a specific country's level of personal data protection is equivalent to the EU's. When there is an adequacy decision, transferring EU citizens' information to that country is permitted as if it were within the EU. The European Commission is regularly reviewing whether countries that have received an adequacy decision continue to maintain such a level of protection.

According to the commission, the European Commission comprehensively reviewed South Korea's personal data protection laws and systems, its supervision framework and public institutions' access to personal data in this review. It assessed that South Korea's personal data protection framework has continued to maintain a high level since the adequacy decision.

Commission Chair Song Kyung-hee (송경희) said, "This review has once again confirmed that South Korea's personal data protection framework continues to maintain a high level of trust internationally." She added, "We will continue to cooperate with key countries, including the European Union, to protect citizens' personal data and actively support companies' global use of data."