Framework Act on the Development of AI and Establishment of Trust (AI Basic Act)
Asia's first comprehensive AI law: a promotion-plus-trust framework with transparency and labelling duties, extra obligations for 'high-impact' AI, human oversight, and extraterritorial reach over foreign providers.
Key dates
- Dec 26, 2024Passed by the National Assembly
- Jan 21, 2025Promulgated
- Jan 22, 2026In force
Risk areas addressed
Who it applies to
AI businesses operating in Korea, including foreign providers whose AI affects the Korean market (who must appoint a domestic representative).
Penalties & enforcement
Administrative fines for breaches (e.g. transparency/high-impact duties).
Enforced by: Ministry of Science and ICT
South Korea AI Basic Act is enforced by Ministry of Science and ICT. Its obligations are already live, so a gap is a present exposure rather than a future one. In practice that means knowing which of your AI systems fall in scope across every sector you operate in, holding assessments that speak to transparency, human oversight and safety & robustness, and being able to produce that evidence on request, including for systems built outside the jurisdiction.