KAITRUST (Korea AI Trust)
Korean AI industry association offering AI compliance diagnostics, Korea AI Basic Act implementation planning, high-impact AI impact assessments and governance guidelines.
Korea AI Basic ActEU AI Act
Jurisdictions · South Korea · reviewed 2026-09-21
🇰🇷 AI regulation in South Korea
South Korea's AI Basic Act has applied since 22 January 2026, with obligations for high-impact AI activated on 21 July 2026. It applies to domestic and foreign businesses whose AI reaches Korean users. Generative AI must be disclosed to users and its output labelled; high-impact AI needs an impact assessment, explanations, human oversight and a user protection plan.
Administrative fines of up to KRW 30 million are held back by a grace period of at least one year from January 2026, except in serious cases. Foreign companies above set revenue or user thresholds must appoint a domestic representative.
Next date: End of the one-year grace period for fines (expected), 22 Jan 2027 (in 122 days, upcoming).
South Korea: obligations
| Date | Obligation | Status | Who | What and evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 January 2026 243 days ago | AI Basic Act in force South Korea · AI Basic Act | In force | Domestic and foreign AI developers and businesses using AI in products; foreign firms above revenue or user thresholds must appoint a Korean representative | Generative AI providers must notify users that AI is used and label AI-generated content, with clear notice where generated audio, image or video is hard to tell from real. One-year grace period before administrative fines, except serious cases. Evidence: User notices and labels on generative outputs, domestic representative if thresholds met. |
| 21 July 2026 63 days ago | High-impact AI obligations activated South Korea · AI Basic Act | In force | Operators of high-impact AI (healthcare, energy, transport, hiring, biometric analysis and similar) | Impact assessment on fundamental rights before deployment, meaningful explanation of outcomes, human oversight, a user protection plan and documentation. Fines up to KRW 30 million for notification failures, missing representative or refusing inspection. Evidence: Impact assessment record, oversight design, user protection plan. |
| 22 January 2027 in 122 days | End of the one-year grace period for fines (expected) South Korea · AI Basic Act | Upcoming | All businesses in scope of the Act | The grace period on administrative fines runs at least one year from 22 January 2026. Treat this date as the earliest point at which routine fines start. Evidence: All generative-AI notices and high-impact assessments complete. |
What to do first
- List every AI system you use with the free inventory template.
- Check which rows above apply with the readiness scan.
- Put the disclosures in place with the disclosure generator.
- Hold the evidence. In the Compliance Kit the documents that matter most here are:
- 09 Impact assessment: maps to the high-impact assessment
- 05 Transparency checklist: Korean generative-AI notice
- 12 Jurisdiction mapping: Korean rows pre-filled
Terms you will meet
Domestic representative (Korea) · High-impact AI (Korea) · Korea AI Basic Act
Vendors based in South Korea
2 verified listings from the directory, each checked against the company's own website. Listing is free; paid placements are labelled.
Lee & Ko
Seoul law firm's Tech & AI team advising on AI business launches, platform and data regulation, legislative consultation and regulatory inspections.
EU AI ActKorea AI Basic Act