SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Brian Tae-Hyun Chung, Haewon Han, Jung-Chull Lee and Ari Yoon, Kim & Chang
security measures compared to general personal data), particular caution is required in their processing. Additionally, the PIPA requires the consent of a legal guardian for the processing of personal information of children under the age of 14, and allows the legal guardian to exercise the data subject’s rights on behalf of the child. Similarly, the Location Information Act also requires legal guardian consent for the processing of personal location information of children under the age of 14. The regulator has taken the position that, for children aged 8 to under 14, the lawful processing of personal location information requires both the legal guardian’s consent and the child’s own consent (however, this issue remains subject to ongoing litigation). Under the Location Information Act, the legal guardian may like - wise exercise the rights of a personal location infor - mation subject on the child’s behalf. 1.4 Processing of Personal Data for Research and Development Purposes The PIPA permits the processing of pseudonymised information without the data subject’s consent if such processing is necessary for statistical purposes, sci - entific research, or the preservation of records for the public interest. If pseudonymised information is provided to a third party, it must not include any information that would enable the identification of an individual, and all other regulatory requirements applicable to the processing of pseudonymised information must be complied with. Additionally, in the case of healthcare providers, the processing of medical information may be subject to further restrictions under the Medical Service Act and other applicable sector-specific laws and regulations. 1.5 Processing of Personal Data in the Context of Artificial Intelligence The AI Framework Act The AI Framework Act was passed by the National Assembly on 26 December 2024 and came into effect on 22 January 2026. This legislation establishes obli - gations for providers of high-impact, generative and high-performance AI services to ensure safety and
transparency. It does not designate any categories of AI as prohibited. Key provisions include the following. Extraterritorial regulation and domestic agent system The AI Framework Act can apply to actions taken out - side Korea if they affect the Korean market or users. AI service providers without a business presence in Korea must designate a domestic agent and report to the Minister of Science and ICT (MSIT) if they meet certain criteria. Obligations for high-impact AI AI business operators providing high-impact AI prod - ucts or services using such technology are required to pre-assess their AI technology to determine whether it is high-impact, give advance notice to users, imple - ment comprehensive safety and reliability measures to ensure no undue risk, and possibly conduct an impact assessment on individuals’ fundamental rights and provide explanations to individuals affected by high-impact AI of the logic and principles behind AI- generated outcomes. The high-impact AI category includes AI systems used in areas involving decisions that may have a mate - rial effect on individual’s rights or obligations, such as energy, drinking water, healthcare, nuclear power, and decision-making related to employment or credit assessment for loans. Obligations for generative AI AI business operators that offer products or services using generative AI technology are required to give advance notice to users that the products or services are powered by generative AI, label products or ser - vices as being created by generative AI, and clearly label deepfake content. Obligations for high-performance AI AI business operators offering AI with a significant cumulative amount of compute used for training that surpasses a certain threshold are required to iden - tify, assess and mitigate risks throughout the AI life cycle, as well as establish a risk-management system to monitor and address AI-related safety issues and report the results to the MSIT.
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