South Korea enacted the AI Basic Act (Framework Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and Establishment of Trust, Law No. 20676) on 21 January 2025; it entered into force on 22 January 2026, accompanied by the Enforcement Decree.
–The Act establishes an AI governance framework requiring transparency disclosures, impact assessments for high-impact AI systems, risk management obligations, and designation of domestic representatives by foreign operators. The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) is the lead authority. A 10²⁶ FLOP training compute threshold triggers enhanced obligations for frontier models.
Key Sources
AI Basic Act — National Assembly bill text (Korean)View ↗
AI Basic Act — English translation (CSET Georgetown)View ↗
AI Basic Act and Enforcement Decree — Library of Congress analysis (February 2026)View ↗
Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) — lead authorityView ↗