On 26 December 2024, the South Korean National Assembly approved and adopted the AI Basic Act. The AI Basic Law, also known as the South Korean AI Act (SKAIA), will take effect as of January 2026. This law unifies AI regulation in South Korea, consolidating 19 separate AI-related regulatory proposals.
An overview of the AI Basic Law
The AI Basic Law is the world’s second AI-specific legislation and seeks to unify South Korea’s national AI framework It aims to advance innovation, increase exports, and mitigate AI risks while promoting trustworthy AI. The South Korean authorities are expected to enact further subordinate legislation and policies aimed at supporting the AI industry.
Key features of the AI Basic Law
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- The SKAIA aims are to ensure the protection of human rights and dignity and improve quality of life while strengthening South Korea’s national competitiveness through establishing rules for the development of sound and trustworthy AI.
- The SKAIA focuses on three main developmental areas:
- Launching of an organisational system, including that of a National AI Committee and an AI Safety Research Institute.
- Supporting measures for AI development.
- Establishing mechanisms to ensure safe and reliable bases for high-risk and generative AI.
- The SKAIA does not set out substantive laws and regulations in the same way that the EU AI Act does. Rather it provides operative rules placing obligations on the Ministry of Science and ICT and other related authorities.
The AI Basic Law is currently only available in Korean and can be accessed here. The comparative analysis post below also contains an unofficial translated version of the SKAIA.
You can read an in-depth comparative analysis of the SKAIA and the EU AI Act here.