South Korea Launches Basic AI Act

South Korea's Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and Establishment of Trust—known as the AI Basic Act—took effect on January 22, 2026, marking it as a pioneering comprehensive AI law alongside the EU AI Act.​

Core Scope

The law targets AI development and utilization businesses, defining AI broadly as systems mimicking human intellect like learning, reasoning, and decision-making.
It mandates transparency for generative AI (e.g., text, images) and high-impact AI in sectors like healthcare, hiring, and biometrics, with extraterritorial reach affecting foreign providers impacting Korean users or markets.

Key Obligations

Transparency Rules
Providers of AI-generated media must clearly label outputs indistinguishable from human content and notify users of AI use in products.​

High-Impact AI Requirements
Operators must assess risks via MSIT if needed, offer explainable outcomes with training data summaries, deploy user protection plans, ensure human oversight, and document safety measures—plus conduct fundamental rights impact assessments.

High-Performance AI
Systems trained with 10²⁶ FLOPs or more trigger lifecycle risk management, user protections, and MSIT reporting, with details pending in enforcement decrees.

Enforcement Details

Foreign firms without a Korean office must appoint local agents if they exceed thresholds like 1 trillion KRW revenue or 1 million daily users.
MSIT can issue corrective orders or fines up to 30 million KRW (~US$21,000) for violations like missing notifications; a one-year grace period applies before penalties.

Governance Framework

New bodies include the National AI Committee (presidential oversight), AI Policy Center (industry strategy), and AI Safety Research Institute (risk standards).
Government support targets R&D, data centers, SMEs, and startups to foster AI growth.

Companies in South Korea should audit AI integrations now, as MSIT finalizes technical decrees—positioning this act as a risk-based global benchmark.