Korea wants to lead in AI. Can it both regulate and innovate?

Korea’s Basic Act on AI, set to take effect in January 2026, is more than just another regulatory milestone. It signals Korea’s determination to claim a leadership role in the global artificial intelligence race, but also exposes a deep fault line between innovation and regulation. If the EU wrote the first draft on AI governance, Korea is racing to write the sequel — and unlike in Europe, the country’s startup ecosystem has far more at stake. The draft of the decree that details the legal framework for AI governance was recently made available by Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT, and it has already sparked polarizing debates. At the heart of the controversy is the classification of "high-risk AI" and "generative AI," labels that sound sensible, but with the term "risk" being applied so broadly that even low-risk applications could get caught in the regulatory net. Startups, unsurprisingly, are sounding the alarm. Their fear is not paranoia: Once you force a two-person AI shop to watermark every image and track every model output, you’re not fostering innovation — youWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times