At the Intersection of Law, Economics, Technology, and Institutions
Professor Haksoo Ko is a law and economics scholar who studied both law and economics. He researches personal information protection, AI policy, and institutions that respond to technological change. He serves as a professor at the Seoul National University School of Law and leads the Center for Law & Economics.
He studied economics at Seoul National University and law and economics at Columbia University. He has interdisciplinary expertise addressing regulations on personal information and data, utilization and explicability of artificial intelligence, and issues regarding market competition.
After an earlier term from 2014 to 2022, he has again served as Director of the Center for Law & Economics since 2026. He previously served as Chairperson of the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) and as a member of the UN High-level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence. As a fellow of the Future of Privacy Forum and IAPP, he continues to take part in international research and policy discussions.
Major Research Interests
Personal Information and Data Governance
He researches the intersection where the institutions and technologies for personal information protection meet, examining the relationship between personal information protection and data utilization through data collection, de-identification, rights regarding data, and conditions for data use.
Artificial Intelligence and Legal Policy
He has published works addressing AI explicability and transparency, algorithmic decision-making, and employment discrimination. His research connects the analyses of law and economics to expertise in other disciplines.
Market Competition and Technological Change
This examines the relationship between learning data of artificial intelligence and competition, as well as the impact of regulations on data on the market. The starting point is the perspective of law and economics, which considers the incentives for behavior created by institutions alongside the possibilities of technology.
Major Career
- 2026–Present · 2014–2022
- Director of the Center for Law & Economics, Seoul National University
- 2026–Present
- IAPP Emeritus Fellow
- 2025–Present
- Future of Privacy Forum Senior Fellow
- 2023–2024
- Member of the UN High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence
- 2022.10–2025.10
- Chairperson of the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC)
- 2010.9–Present
- Professor, College of Law and School of Law, Seoul National University
Academic Background
- 2001
- Columbia University · Ph.D. in Economics
- 1998
- Columbia University School of Law · J.D.
- 1991
- Seoul National University · Master's Degree in Economics
- 1989
- Seoul National University · Bachelor's Degree in Economics