Detailed overview
South Korea has adopted a comprehensive national AI law: the Framework Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and the Creation of a Foundation for Trust. The Act is effective from 22 January 2026. It is designed both to promote AI development and to create trust and safety rules for AI products and services.
Scope and definitions
South Korea's framework distinguishes between ordinary AI, generative AI and high-impact AI. High-impact AI generally refers to AI that may significantly affect life, physical safety or fundamental rights. Generative AI refers to AI that creates new outputs such as text, images, audio, video or other content. The law is important because it creates duties not only for AI developers, but also for businesses that provide AI-based products or services to users.
Notification and labelling
Providers of products or services using high-impact AI or generative AI must notify users in advance that AI is being used. This means that users should not be left unaware that a product, service, decision-support process or generated output is AI-based where the law requires disclosure. The notification must be provided before or during the use of the AI product or service in a way that users can recognise.
Generative AI outputs may also require labelling. Where AI-generated output, including deepfake-style content, may be difficult to distinguish from reality or may create social risks, users must be clearly informed that the content was generated by AI. Depending on the type of content, this may involve visible labels, user-interface notices, metadata, watermarks or other appropriate technical means.
Safety and trustworthiness
High-impact AI operators must take safety and trustworthiness measures. The South Korean framework refers to transparency, safety, operator responsibility, voluntary AI safety and trust verification, certification and AI impact assessments. The exact compliance burden depends on the AI use case, the sector, the affected persons and whether the AI qualifies as high-impact or generative AI.
Enforcement and grace period
The Act is supported by an enforcement decree and official guidance. Official transparency guidance confirms that the transparency obligation will be subject to a grace period of at least one year, during which fact-finding investigations and penalties under the transparency provision are deferred.
South Korea's AI penalties are connected to the Framework Act and its implementing rules, but practical enforcement is phased. Companies using high-impact or generative AI should treat user notification, AI-generated content labelling, safety management, internal documentation and human oversight as core compliance points from the start of the 2026 framework.