South Korea's AI Basic Act

South Korea's AI Basic Act, which took effect 22 Jan. 2026, represents the first major step toward regulating AI in one of Asia's largest technology markets. Following in the footsteps of the EU AI Act and Colorado AI Act, Korea's law is the most recent entry in the international turn toward risk-based AI regulation. Organized around three distinct regulatory tracks, the act imposes transparency obligations on generative and high-impact AI, safety requirements for frontier models, and broader governance duties for high-impact systems deployed in sensitive domains.

While the AI Basic Act's text has been available for more than a year, it offers scant detail on the scope of obligations or which entities in the AI supply chain each requirement applies to. However, the recently released presidential decree and accompanying guidelines issued by the Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology go a long way in clarifying the law's operational substance. Though interpretive rather than legally binding and likely to evolve as the framework matures, they represent our best current understanding of how the law will apply.

Who is covered?

The act applies to the AI business operator, which is defined as any entity engaged in business related to the AI industry. Foreign entities whose AI systems may affect users in Korea are explicitly covered, and those without a local address must appoint a domestic representative if they meet certain thresholds — total annual revenue over KRW1 trillion, AI services revenue exceeding KRW10 billion, or at least one million daily users in Korea.

The framework imposes obligations on two types of defined entities: AI developers and AI-using business operators.