Benchmark Drilldown · Updated 2026-05-04
MSIT (Ministry of Science and ICT)
Lead ministry for AI policy
- Role
- Lead ministry for AI policy
- Region
- South Korea
- Type
- Key body
Detail
MSIT (Ministry of Science and ICT) is South Korea's top ministry for AI policy. AI-related functions: (1) drafting the AI Basic Act and its Enforcement Decree; (2) government-side coordination of the ₩100 trillion public-private AI fund; (3) oversight of the AI Safety Institute; (4) industrial-policy coordination with Samsung / SK / Naver / Kakao. MSIT, formed in 2017 from a merger of the former Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Information and Communication, has been the centre of digital and AI policy ever since. Assessment: MSIT is Korea's all-in-one AI lead — broader than Singapore SNDGO (which does not directly regulate) and broader than IMDA (which does not legislate). This concentration is efficient inside Korea's chaebol economy but offers little inter-agency check.
References
Continue exploring this region
Region overview
South Korea Core Strategy
South Korea's core AI strategy is K-AI Strategy / AI Basic Act, with the public year marked as 2019/2025.
Region overview
South Korea Investment Scale
South Korea's AI investment signal is: ₩100 trillion (~$71.5B) public-private fund.
Region overview
South Korea Governance Model
South Korea's AI governance model can be summarised as: AI Basic Act (passed 2024).
Region overview
South Korea Core Strength
South Korea's comparative strength versus Singapore is: Chaebols + semiconductors, dominant investment scale.
Core strategy
K-AI Strategy
National AI development blueprint
Core strategy
AI Basic Act
Passed by the National Assembly in 2024 and effective 2025; Asia's first full-scope AI law
Data note
Curated benchmark drilldown profile, last updated 2026-05-04.