AI Basic Act (Korea)
Japanese 人工知能基本法（韓国）
The AI Basic Act is South Korea's law covering both the growth of AI and trust in it, in force since January 22, 2026. Among other basic rules, it requires businesses that provide generative AI services to label AI-made output.
The AI Basic Act's full name is the Basic Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and the Establishment of a Trustworthy Foundation. It puts support for the AI industry and rules for using AI with confidence into one law. The Act and its Enforcement Decree took effect together on January 22, 2026. The part that matters most to a small business is the transparency duty in Article 31. An AI business that provides a product or service using generative AI must tell users in advance that it runs on that AI, and must label output as made by generative AI. It works like the ingredient list on food packaging: whatever AI made gets a tag saying so.
Watch out The labeling duty falls on the business that provides the generative AI service. The article does not ask a user who makes a flyer or a product description with such a tool to add a label. Still, if an image could be mistaken for a real photo, saying it was made with AI protects your credibility. Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT announced a grace period of at least one year before fines, with an AI Basic Act Support Desk for consultations. If you attach an AI chatbot to your website and offer it directly to customers, you may be on the business side, so check with your service provider.
Source: Basic Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and the Establishment of a Trustworthy Foundation, Article 31 (Duty to Ensure AI Transparency) · Same Act, Article 2 (Definitions) · Same Act, Article 43 (Administrative Fines) · Same Act, Article 1 (Purpose) · Same Act, original enactment header (Act No. 20676, enacted January 21, 2025, in force January 22, 2026) · Enforcement Decree of the same Act, header (Presidential Decree No. 36053, enacted January 21, 2026, in force January 22, 2026) · Ministry of Science and ICT policy news: AI Basic Act takes effect on the 22nd, watermark labeling duty for generative AI output (January 21, 2026) · The AI Basic Act Comes into Force to Lay the Foundation for Korea to Become an AI G3 (checked 2026-10-26)