Benchmark Drilldown · Updated 2026-05-04
AI Basic Act implementation (2025)
AI Basic Act implementation (2025) is one of the key initiatives in South Korea's AI strategy.
- Type
- Key initiative
- Region
- South Korea
- Source layer
- Region profile
Detail
AI Basic Act implementation (Enforcement Decree drafted 2025, law in force 2026) as a project: (1) H1 2025: MSIT drafted the Enforcement Decree, including the "high-impact AI" catalogue, risk-assessment workflow, and AI Committee composition; (2) September 2025: Cabinet approval; (3) January 2026: law fully in force; (4) from 2026, firms must comply — high-impact AI requires impact assessment before launch, generative AI must be labelled, and overseas AI services must appoint local representatives. Assessment: the implementation cadence looks orderly, but ITIF flags the "weak link" — the definition of "high-impact AI" is ambiguous; MSIT's catalogue will determine the law's actual hardness. Compliance costs and dispute cases through 2026-2027 will reveal how the Korean governance model performs in practice.
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.