In Korea, there recently have been noteworthy trends in cloud computing. A brief summary of the major trends is set out below.

On September 5, 2018, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (“MOIS”) announced its “Basic Plan for Cloud Computing Promotion in the Public Sector” (the “Basic Plan”).  The key features of the Basic Plan include: (i) actively introducing cloud services (offered by private-sector companies) in the public sector; (ii) establishing a cloud environment solely dedicated to the government; and (iii) providing hybrid cloud services applying artificial intelligence and big data analysis technology to government data.  The Basic Plan is part of the “Regulatory Reform Plan for Data Economics Promotion” announced by the government and relevant bodies on August 31, 2018.

Expansion of Cloud Services in Public Sector

Pursuant to the Basic Plan, the government plans to amend the “Act on the Development of Cloud Computing and Protection of Its Users (the “Cloud Computing Act”) to expand the provision of cloud services (offered by private-sector companies) to the central and local governments as well as public institutions.

In addition, the “Information Classification System” under the Guideline on Use of Cloud Services by Public Institutions, which had been criticized for excessively limiting the introduction of cloud services (offered by private-sector companies), is expected to be repealed.  Under the existing Information Classification System, information resources are classified into Classes 1, 2 and 3 based on their importance, and cloud services (offered by private-sector companies)are available for only those classified as Class 3, being the lowest among the three classes.  If the Information Classification System is repealed, each government body will be able to freely determine the scope of information for which the cloud services will be used, potentially leading to expansion of the use of cloud services (offered by private-sector companies) in the public sector.

Moreover, the relevant government bodies have agreed to allow the use of cloud services (offered by private-sector companies) for all public services that are not related to national security, foreign affairs/unification, and investigation/trial and not subject to sensitive information processing under the Personal Information Protection Act (the “PIPA”) by introducing negative regulatory approaches.

Establishment of Government-Exclusive Cloud Environment

The administrative affairs system and other systems with respect to which the use of cloud services (offered by private-sector companies) is difficult are expected to gradually transition to a government-exclusive cloud environment by 2020. Therefore the current government cloud service, which is primarily based on an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) model, will be greatly expanded to be also based on Software as a Service (SaaS) models.

In order to create a government-exclusive cloud environment, the government plans to establish an electronic government cloud platform and commence with the conversion of government data centers into cloud centers, starting first with the Government Integrated Data Center in Daegu of the National Information Resources Service.

Introduction of Hybrid Cloud Service in Public Sector

The government plans to introduce a hybrid cloud service in the public sector, which would apply advanced private technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence and big data analysis) to government data.

Future Plan

In order to implement the Basic Plan smoothly, the government plans to prepare a detailed plan by the end of this year through discussions with relevant government bodies and industry groups. In particular, the relevant government bodies are currently discussing a pilot conversion of some of the government systems into cloud-based systems.