1. On June 1, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met with European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Vera Jourouva, during which the two sides exchanged views on ways that the Republic of Korea and the European Union can work more closely together in protecting personal information and thereby step up substantive cooperation.

※ During her visit to the ROK, the EU’s minister-level Commissioner Jourouva, who oversees matters related to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in force since May 25, will attend such official events as a Personal Information Security (PIS) Fair; pay a courtesy call on the Prime Minister; and hold meetings with the Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission, the Minister of Justice, and the Minister of Science and ICT.

※ The EU GDPR, which calls for better ensuring rights of information subjects and strengthening the accountability of entrepreneurs, will be applied to all companies that sell merchandise and/or provide services to the companies in and the member states of the EU.

2. Minister Kang took note of the EU GDPR in force since May 25; shared with the EU Commissioner the ROK government’s efforts to help Korean companies fully comply with it; and urged the Commissioner to accelerate the ongoing ROK-EU negotiations on the adequacy decision regarding the out-of-area transfer of personal information.

※ When the European Commission makes an adequacy decision for a company, that company is acknowledged to protect personal information to the equivalent extent as that of the EU, and thus will be allowed to transfer that information without undergoing any further procedures.

3. Commissioner Jourouva, acknowledging the ROK’s high-level system for the protection of personal information, responded that the EU would do its utmost to reach an adequacy decision in the year 2018, if possible.

° The Commissioner went on to mention that the EU policy for a better protection of personal information is implemented in an effort to safeguard rights of individuals and promote business in the era of information technology (IT) innovation.

4. The Minister and the Commissioner agreed to work more closely together not only in protecting personal information but also on artificial intelligence and other types of information and communications (ICT) technology.

5. In a bid to prevent Korean companies operating in the EU region from facing disadvantages due to their lack of information on the EU GDPR, the Foreign Ministry will have its overseas missions continuously offer relevant information to those companies.

* unofficial translation