Anthropic opened a Seoul office and announced partnerships with South Korean government agencies, universities and technology firms on Wednesday, just days after the Trump administration imposed export controls that forced the company to block foreign access to its most advanced AI models.
The expansion follows a June order from Washington requiring Anthropic to suspend foreign nationals' access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models, citing national security concerns. U.S. officials became alarmed after learning that SK Telecom, South Korea's largest wireless carrier, had gained access to Mythos through Anthropic's Project Glasswing cybersecurity initiative, according to reporting by The Washington Post and WIRED. SK Telecom has denied having ties to China, and the company's access was reportedly revoked at the U.S. government's request.
At a press conference in Seoul, Anthropic international managing director Chris Ciauri declined to elaborate on the restrictions. "We are not going to comment on Project Glasswing at this point," he said.
Korean partnerships and public-sector AI
Anthropic signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT to support safe and responsible AI adoption across the public sector. The company also highlighted collaborations with major Korean firms including SK Telecom, LG CNS and Naver Cloud, and said it would work with the National AI Research Lab, a consortium that includes KAIST, Korea University, Yonsei University and POSTECH.
"What I see in Korea are teams who understand that innovation and safety are two sides of the same coin," KiYoung Choi, Anthropic's Korea representative director, said in a statement. "Opening an office in Seoul gives a long-term home to our work alongside the people shaping Korean leadership in AI."
Claude adoption and SK Telecom investment
South Korea has emerged as one of Anthropic's most important international markets. The country ranked 12th among 116 countries in per-capita usage of its Claude AI model, according to a company report from March, driven by strong uptake among developers, startups and enterprises.
SK Telecom, one of Anthropic's closest Korean partners, invested $100 million in the company in 2023 and has collaborated on telecommunications-focused AI development. The carrier was among roughly 150 organizations granted access to Mythos through Project Glasswing before that access was reportedly revoked.
Why this matters for IT and government professionals
The Seoul expansion and simultaneous export controls illustrate a growing tension for technology and government professionals: global AI deployment is accelerating, but national security restrictions can suddenly reshape access to the most capable models. For IT teams and developers in South Korea and beyond, the Claude model remains widely available, but advanced models like Mythos are now off-limits to foreign nationals unless policies change. Government agencies exploring AI for Government initiatives will watch closely how public-private partnerships like the MOU balance innovation with sovereign data and security requirements.
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