South Korea's AI Act to act as a consolidated body of law governing AI once approved by the National Assembly.

Laws/Regulations directly regulating AI (the “AI Regulations”)

While there are no specific laws, statutory rules or regulations that directly regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI), the South Korean National Assembly passed a proposed legislation to enact the Act on Promotion of the AI Industry and Framework for Establishing Trustworthy AI (the "AI Act").¹ Once enacted, the AI Act is expected to serve as a consolidated body of law, incorporating seven AI-related bills introduced since 2022. The AI Act seeks to not only promote the AI industry, but also to protect its users by fostering a more secure ecosystem by imposing stringent notice and certification requirements.²

Status of the AI Regulations

The 21st South Korean National Assembly of the current South Korean administration adjourned on May 29, 2024, without resolving to pass the AI Act. It is currently under review by the 22nd South Korean National Assembly.³

Other laws affecting AI

There are bills and proposed amendments to existing laws that do not aim to directly regulate AI but may impact the use and/or development of AI in South Korea. A non-exhaustive list of examples includes the following:

• Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection: Amendments have been proposed to require notification to the Korean Communications Commission when providing AI-based recommendation services and to include "a person who provides information or mediates the provision of information using AI technology" in the definition of "information and communication service provider" so that such person will be regulated under this Act
• Personal Information Protection Act: Amendments were introduced to allow the Personal Information Protection Commission to request information in case personal information is leaked by an AI company's algorithm
• Fair Hiring Procedure Act: Amendments have been proposed to require companies to give prospective employees notice when using AI in hiring
• Content Industry Promotion Act: Amendments have been proposed to require a disclosure stating that content was generated using AI technology
• Copyright Act: Amendments have been proposed to establish standards for the use of copyrighted works for automated information analysis using computers to clarify the boundaries of copyright infringement and the scope of permissible use of copyrighted works in the context of AI technology
• Public Official Election Act: Amendments have been proposed to prohibit: (i) the use of AI to manipulate polls by inputting false information or commands, or by transmitting election results for electioneering purposes; and (ii) the use of AI to restrict commentary or reporting on election results

Definition of “AI”

As noted above, there are currently no specific laws or policies in South Korea that directly regulate AI. As such, AI is not currently defined under South Korean legislation. Under the proposed AI Act, "artificial intelligence" is defined as the electronic implementation of human intellectual abilities such as learning, reasoning, perception, judgment, and language comprehension.

Territorial scope

As noted above, there are currently no specific laws or regulations in South Korea that directly regulate AI. Accordingly, there is no specific territorial scope at this stage.

Sectoral scope

As noted above, there are currently no specific laws or regulations in South Korea that directly regulate AI. Accordingly, there is no specific sectoral scope at this stage.

Compliance roles

As noted above, there are currently no specific laws or regulations in South Korea that directly regulate AI. Accordingly, there are no specific compliance obligations at this stage.

Core issues that the AI Regulations seek to address

As noted above, there are currently no specific laws or regulations in South Korea that directly regulate AI. Nevertheless, the proposed AI Act focuses on several key areas including the following:⁴

• Instituting the principle of 'allow first, regulate later' to guide the development of AI technologies
• Classifying AI used in areas directly impacting human life and safety as 'high-risk AI' and outlining measures to ensure its reliability
• Creating a legal foundation for the 'AI Ethical Principles'
• Providing support measures for innovative companies within the AI industry
• Developing an AI Basic Plan and forming an AI Committee supervised by the Prime Minister

Risk categorization

As noted above, there are currently no specific laws or regulations in South Korea that directly regulate AI. Under the proposed AI Act, high-risk areas are listed that may have a significant impact on the safety, health, and protection of fundamental rights of the public. These areas include energy, healthcare, medical devices, nuclear facilities, biometric information in criminal investigations or arrests, artificial intelligence for judgment and evaluation purposes that have a significant impact on the rights and obligations of individuals (such as recruitment or loan screening), transportation (including autonomous driving, transportation facilities, and transportation systems), and artificial intelligence used by the state, local governments, and public institutions to make decisions that affect the public.⁵

Key compliance requirements

As noted above, there are currently no specific laws or regulations in South Korea that directly regulate AI. Therefore, there are no specific AI-related national compliance requirements at this stage.

Regulators

In South Korea, there are several government bodies and ministries involved in regulating and overseeing the use and development of AI. Such regulators include below:

• Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT): MSIT is primarily responsible for setting the overall policy and strategic direction of AI development and utilization in South Korea – It oversees various initiatives to promote AI technology and integration across different sectors
• Korea Communications Commission (KCC): KCC regulates the use of AI in communications and media – This includes ensuring that AI-based recommendation services and other communication services using AI technology comply with relevant regulations
• Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC): PIPC oversees the protection of personal data in AI applications – This involves ensuring that AI systems comply with data protection laws and regulations, such as the Personal Information Protection Act
• Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC): KFTC monitors the fair use of AI in business practices to prevent anti-competitive behavior and protect consumers – This includes overseeing AI algorithms used in pricing, advertising, and other business operations
• Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW): MOHW regulates the use of AI in the healthcare sector, including AI applications in medical devices, diagnostics, and patient care

Enforcement powers and penalties

As noted above, there are currently no specific laws or regulations in South Korea that directly regulate AI. As such, enforcement and penalties relating to the creation, dissemination and/or use of AI are governed by related non-AI legislation.

1 https://www.assembly.go.kr/portal/bbs/B0000051/view.do?nttId=2095056&menuNo=600101&sdate=&edate=&pageUnit=10&pageIndex=1
2 https://likms.assembly.go.kr/bill/billDetail.do?billId=PRC_H2X2J1V2M0Q1B0F9V2P9Q1E2D9T1Z2
3 https://likms.assembly.go.kr/bill/billDetail.do?billId=PRC_F2E4A0X5W3F0E0K9B0A7X3G9F2E2K3
4 https://likms.assembly.go.kr/bill/billDetail.do?billId=PRC_H2X2J1V2M0Q1B0F9V2P9Q1E2D9T1Z2
5 https://likms.assembly.go.kr/bill/billDetail.do?billId=PRC_H2X2J1V2M0Q1B0F9V2P9Q1E2D9T1Z2

Cameron Lee (Trainee Solicitor, White & Case, London) contributed to this publication.

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