SOUTH KOREA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Hwan Kyoung Ko, Hyunjun Kim, Kyung Min Son and Matt Younghoon Mok, Lee & Ko
Recent Developments in South Korean TMT Regulations: Data Privacy, AI and Platform Regulations Overview Recent developments in South Korea’s tech - nology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector reveal three significant trends: increased regulatory oversight of foreign businesses, establishment of a comprehensive legal frame - work for AI, and refinement of the online platform governance regulatory regime. Firstly, there has been continued strengthening of regulatory oversight over foreign businesses operating in South Korea. In 2024, the Person - al Information Protection Commission (PIPC) imposed substantial administrative penalties on several foreign entities, including Meta, AliEx - press, and the Worldcoin Foundation. Similarly, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) has demonstrated its commitment to robust enforcement against foreign IT companies by pursuing amendments to the Telecommunica - tions Business Act to increase potential fines related to in-app payment violations by platform operators such as Google and Apple, while also taking administrative actions against entities like Twitch and Telegram. Secondly, South Korea has made substan - tial progress in establishing a comprehensive legal framework for AI. Following the European Union’s adoption of the AI Act in early 2024, South Korea became the second jurisdiction worldwide to enact comprehensive AI legislation with the passage of the Framework Act on Arti - ficial Intelligence Development and Establish - ment of a Foundation for Trustworthiness (the “AI Framework Act”) by the National Assembly on 26 December 2024. Further, various govern - ment agencies, such as the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA), an agency under
the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), and the PIPC, have also issued AI-related guidelines within their respective domains. Thirdly, South Korea is refining its regulatory framework for online platforms. The MSIT is pur - suing a dual approach of self-regulation coupled with targeted regulation through amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act, while the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) is considering introducing a regulatory framework that would establish a post-facto presumption mechanism for certain violations by dominant platform operators, rather than pre-designating such operators. This article examines these three significant developments in detail and provides guidance for foreign businesses affected by these regula - tory changes, to ensure their compliance with South Korea’s evolving TMT regulatory land - scape. Strengthening of regulatory oversight on foreign businesses Personal information protection South Korea has significantly enhanced its data protection enforcement regime, particularly con - cerning foreign businesses. This shift was driven by the second major amendment to the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), in 2023, which introduced two crucial changes: a transition from criminal penalties to economic sanctions, and a refined method for calculating administrative penalties by shifting the basis for penalty cal - culations from revenue attributable to violations to total revenue, subject to any exclusions sub - stantiated by the data controller. These changes have enabled the PIPC to impose more targeted and significant penalties throughout 2024. This enforcement trend is expected to continue in 2025.
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