Benchmark Drilldown · Updated 2026-05-04
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.
- Strategy
- K-AI Strategy / AI Basic Act
- Year
- 2019/2025
- Region
- South Korea
Detail
South Korea's AI strategy is a dual-engine of "chaebol-led industrial policy + framework legislation": (1) the 2019 K-AI Strategy was the first national AI blueprint; (2) on 26 December 2024 the National Assembly passed the AI Basic Act — Asia's first full-scope AI law; (3) timeline: the Enforcement Decree was enacted by the Cabinet on 21 January 2026, and the law fully takes effect from January 2026; (4) MSIT drafted secondary regulations across H1 2025; (5) the public-private AI fund of ₩100 trillion (~US$71.5bn) is government-coordinated, jointly funded with chaebols Samsung, SK, Hyundai, Naver, Kakao. Assessment: South Korea is the most ambitious AI player among mid-sized economies — investment scale is roughly 25x Singapore and legislation is two years ahead. But chaebol dominance means AI innovation circulates inside large corporates, squeezing the local startup ecosystem — this is the fundamental divergence between Singapore's open-hub model and Korea's closed-conglomerate model.
References
Continue exploring this region
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
Core strategy
AI Semiconductor Strategy
Strengthen sovereign AI chip capability
Data note
Curated benchmark drilldown profile, last updated 2026-05-04.