BYD and Tesla on the national audit hot seat… “Data transfers to China” and “FSD discrimination” pressed - 경향신문

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On the 8th, at the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee audit of the Korea Expressway Corporation and related agencies, Yoo Jeong-hoon, president of the Korea Expressway Corporation, appears and answers questions. Yonhap News

On the 8th, the heads of the Korean subsidiaries of Tesla and China's BYD appeared side by side as witnesses at the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee audit. Lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties questioned BYD about the transfer of the personal data of customers to China and security issues, and questioned Tesla about discrimination concerning its Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature, defects in emergency escape devices, and the failure to issue temporary license plates.

At the audit, Representative Kim Eun-hye of the People Power Party disclosed cases in which BYD required consent for transferring personal data to China at the time of vehicle purchase and informed customers who refused that it was “difficult to proceed with the purchase.” Kim said, “I can accept that certain service limitations are similar to other imported cars, but it is surprising to refuse the purchase itself.” Jo In-cheol, head of BYD Korea's passenger vehicle division, who appeared as a witness, replied, “We will look again to see if there is a way.”

Kim also pointed out that the National Intelligence Law of China and the Data Security Law compel cooperation with state intelligence work even for information collected overseas. When asked, “If the Chinese Communist Party demands it from headquarters, can you refuse?”, Jo repeated only the answer, “We will strictly comply with the Personal Information Protection Act of Korea.”

Representative Eom Tae-young of the same party said BYD's explanations are inconsistent. Materials submitted to his office said domestic customer data are stored on Tencent Cloud located in Korea, but the privacy policy on the website states Alibaba Cloud. The policy also says that names, vehicle identification numbers, and e-mail addresses may be transferred to the company headquarters in China. Jo explained, “Both are server providers and are limited to within Korea.” He avoided a direct answer to the question, “Is there a structure or function that allows the Chinese headquarters to issue remote commands to vehicles in Korea?”

Eom noted that although the Korea Transportation Safety Authority found BYD vehicles noncompliant with safety standards and even ordered a recall, there has not been a single real-vehicle cybersecurity verification. Jung Yong-sik, president of the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, answered, “We are preparing on-vehicle inspections as part of the conformity investigations for self-certification, of which we conduct about 20 per year.”

For Tesla, the issue of FSD ‘production-site discrimination’ was raised. Seo Young-deuk, head of Tesla Korea, said that by the end of September this year the company had sold about 89,000 vehicles, 90% of which were the ‘Model Y.’ He also said that of roughly 230,000 Teslas in Korea, about 45,000 can use FSD. U.S.-made vehicles are allowed to use the American standard under the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), but China-made vehicles cannot use FSD because there is no domestic standard. Seo acknowledged, “We have not officially requested tests from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport or the Authority.” Representative Jang Jong-tae of the Democratic Party of Korea criticized both sides, saying that even though there is a special provision allowing application of foreign standards, Tesla did not apply and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has never conducted verification.

Representative Hwang Un-ha of the Rebuilding Korea Party raised an accident in which a driver died after becoming trapped in a Tesla that crashed into a wall and caught fire in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, in October 2024. When power was cut, the doors could not be opened from either inside or outside, he said. When Seo said, “There is a manual evacuation device,” Hwang pressed him on a recall, saying, “You have to remove a cover and pull a strap, and older models do not even have the strap.” Choi Young-seok, chair of the Automobile Consumers Committee at the Consumer Sovereignty Citizens’ Coalition, who appeared as a reference witness, said, “It is a fatal accident caused by a design defect and a case of a poor investigation.” He also said that China has mandated inside-and-outside manual opening devices on all vehicles starting next January.

Representative Mo Kyung-jong of the Democratic Party said that out of 7.76 million vehicle registrations over the past five years, Tesla was issued only a single temporary license plate. The temporary plate system allows customers to drive a car before formal registration to check for defects. Seo said, “We do not actively make use of temporary plates.” When Mo requested that customers be given a choice at the time of contract, arguing that they cannot respond to damage during delivery, Seo answered, “We will actively consider it.”

At the audit, there were simultaneous calls regarding the same FSD to “allow it quickly” and to “verify it first.” While Tesla does not apply for verification and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport does not conduct verification, only consumers are left to face confusion. The two company heads sidestepped key questions with answers such as “We will look into it” and “We will review it.”