KOREA WHO

Song Kyung-hee is the Chairperson of the Personal Information Protection Commission.

She faces the task of overhauling the personal information protection system in response to advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and the data industry, while strengthening the commission’s ability to investigate and impose sanctions over large-scale personal data breaches.

She is also working to establish relevant systems and policies to ensure a balance between personal information protection and data utilization in the age of artificial intelligence.

She was born in 1966 in Hwasan-ri, Daeseo-myeon, Goheung County, South Jeolla Province.

She graduated from Jeonnam Girls’ High School and the Department of English Language and Literature at Chonnam National University. She earned a master’s degree in public policy from Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Public Administration, a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard Kennedy School in the United States, and a doctorate in business administration from Yonsei University’s graduate school.

She joined Pohang Iron and Steel Co. as a member of the company’s first open recruitment class for female university graduates and was responsible for education planning.

After passing the 39th National Higher Civil Service Examination, she began her public service career at the Ministry of Information and Communication, where she handled policies related to postal services, information and communications, and international cooperation.

She served as director of the Radio Frequency Planning Division, the Radio and Broadcasting Management Division, and the Internet Policy Division at the Korea Communications Commission. At the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, she served as director of the Internet Policy Division and the Convergence Technology Division, as well as director-general for international cooperation coordination.

After working as an administrative officer in the Office of the Senior Presidential Secretary for Economic Affairs, she served at the Ministry of Science and ICT as director-general for international cooperation, director-general for software policy, and director-general for AI-based policy.

She served as head of the support group for the Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and head of the Intellectual Property Strategy and Planning Office under the Presidential Council on Intellectual Property.

She joined Sungkyunkwan University as a research professor and headed the Center for AI Trustworthiness at the university’s Institute for AI Convergence. She also served as a member and chair of the Economic Affairs Subcommittee II of the Lee Jae-myung administration’s State Affairs Planning Committee, participating in the development of national policy tasks related to artificial intelligence.

She took office as Chairperson of the Personal Information Protection Commission in October 2025.

She is regarded as a technology policy expert with broad experience in information and communications, software, artificial intelligence, and international cooperation.

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