Tesla Korea “Domestic FSD accumulated driving distance of 100 million km… cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for verification”

BYD Korea "strictly complies with domestic laws" amid concerns about personal information being leaked to the Chinese government

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Hong Gyu-bin = The CEOs of Tesla Korea and BYD Korea appeared side by side as witnesses at the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee audit held on the 8th and were criticized for consumer protection issues.

In the case of Tesla Korea, the safety issue of supervised FSD (Full Self-Driving), an advanced driving assistance function, has come to the fore.

Tesla Korea CEO Seo Young-deuk responded to the question of Rep. Jang Jong-tae of the Democratic Party of Korea asking, "Do you have any plans to get the FSD verified by using the special provisions of the automobile rules?" during the National Assembly audit on the same day, saying, "We will actively cooperate with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to get the FSD verified."

Tesla Korea is exempt from domestic certification for US-made models in accordance with the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and is activating the supervised FSD function.

CEO Seo said, “Out of about 230,000 vehicles (in Korea), about 45,000 can use the FSD function,” adding, “To date, more than 100 million km have been driven cumulatively (with FSD), and there have been minor accidents, but no significant accidents have been reported.”

He added, “Tesla Korea has not officially requested any (safety) testing from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport or related corporations.”

When it was pointed out that the driver died because the door of a Tesla vehicle that caught fire after a collision in Anseong in October 2024 did not open, he responded, "There is a device in the car that can be opened and closed manually."

BYD Korea was criticized by lawmakers over the possibility of personal information being leaked.

Regarding concerns that domestic customer personal information could be passed on to the Chinese government, Jo In-cheol, CEO of BYD Korea's passenger vehicle division, said, "We will thoroughly comply with the Korean Personal Information Protection Act and related laws."

CEO Cho explained that personal information transferred overseas ultimately goes to the company's headquarters in Shenzhen, China, and that "only the minimum amount of personal information is being transferred."

Regarding whether the Chinese headquarters has the authority to issue remote commands or restrict functions to Korean vehicles, the company responded, "As far as I know, it does not have such authority."

Jeong Yong-sik, chairman of the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, responded to the point that there is no actual vehicle investigation related to cyber security for BYD vehicles, saying, "We are preparing to include it in the new self-certification compliance investigation."