Naver to pull data center out of Hong Kong

Naver is on track to move its data center from Hong Kong to Singapore, joining a flurry of IT companies relocating their servers and data centers after Hong Kong’s enactment of a national security law imposed by China.

The Seongnam, Gyeonggi-based internet giant declined to comment on the potential link between the decision and the introduction of the new law that critics say undermines the autonomy and freedom of speech of the region, although the Korean company did confirm it is moving the center.

“Naver is relocating a data center that backs up an important set of data from Hong Kong into Singapore to better store and manage users’ data in line with an operational direction toward strengthening data protection,” Naver said on its blog.

The overseas data center is responsible for archiving some key data stored in its main data center Gak in Chuncheon, Gangwon in case the information housed in Korea is compromised due to an external attack or natural disaster.

The timeline of the announcement triggered speculation that the move is affected by the controversial law that came into effect on June 30.

Multiple virtual private network providers pulled their servers out of Hong Kong, citing concerns surrounding the national security law.

A series of closures and relocations are challenging the country’s reputation as an internet hub housing submarine cables and satellite dishes and data centers from multinational corporations.

Some media outlets have reported that Naver's Hong Kong data center was compromised, with data potentially being leaked to the Chinese government.

Naver denied the reports.

“We have already destroyed all the data stored in the Hong Kong data center, as Naver’s affiliate is in charge of managing the procedure,” said a spokesperson from Naver who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“The information is encrypted so a third party cannot get access to it.”

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]