South Korea's Cabinet has approved amendments to the AI Basic Act and Data Industry Act on government AI training data and data-location information

Key takeaways

• Cabinet passage on 13 October 2026 is not promulgation. The MSIT release does not report that the bills have been promulgated.
• The AI Basic Act amendment would make AI Hub linkage mandatory for AI training data built or produced through government projects.
• Project operators could decline where they judge that trade secrets, personal data or copyright infringement, or national security grounds set by presidential decree apply.
• MSIT says the amendments are expected to take effect six months after promulgation, in April 2027.

Has promulgation of the AI Basic Act and Data Industry Act amendments been reported?

Not in the source. MSIT said the amendment bills to both Acts passed the Cabinet on Tuesday 13 October 2026. The release gives a six-month period after promulgation and does not report that promulgation has happened. It also does not mention any National Assembly vote, and we did not open an Assembly record, so we make no statement about parliamentary passage or its date.

The release says MSIT will move quickly to revise subordinate rules once the amendments are in place. For the Act as it already stands, see our article on the enforcement decree and labelling, which is a separate instrument.

What would the AI Basic Act amendment require?

MSIT describes the change as making it mandatory to link and provide AI training data built or produced through government projects via the AI Hub. In the release: 정부 사업 등의 수행 과정에서 구축·산출된 인공지능 학습용 데이터를 인공지능 거점(AI 허브)에 연계·제공하도록 의무화. MSIT says it has run the AI Hub (aihub.or.kr) since 2018 to open large-scale training data to universities and small companies.

The release adds an exception. Project operators would not have to link or provide data where they judge that a ground set by presidential decree applies, and it names trade secrets, personal data or copyright infringement, and national security as examples. The Minister of Science and ICT and the heads of relevant central agencies could provide administrative, financial and technical support, and the amendment provides for measures to keep the quality of linked data stable. The release does not state penalties, and the grounds themselves would be set by decree, which we have not seen.

What would the Data Industry Act amendment change?

MSIT says it has run the One-Window service (data1window.kr) since 2025, linking public and private data platforms to show where data is held. Under the amendment, the Minister could ask public bodies and private corporations to cooperate in linking data-location information needed to build and run the service. For public bodies, the release says compliance would be mandatory unless there is a special reason. For private corporations it describes a request, and we read no obligation into it.

The amendment would also give the Minister a basis to provide technical and financial support for the linkage. The release's annex reports 88 platforms linked as of August 2026, 73 public and 15 private.

What does it mean for data holders, contractors and counsel?

In our reading, the practical effect falls on organisations that carry out government projects producing AI training data. If the amendment is promulgated as described, the exception turns on the operator's own judgment against decree-defined grounds. The release does not mention any recordkeeping duty; the desk's view is that operators would be prudent to document the basis for any decision not to link a dataset. For public bodies running data platforms, the release says One-Window linkage requests would have to be followed unless there is a special reason.

Private companies outside government projects are not described as subject to the AI Hub duty. We did not read the bill text, so scope questions belong with Korean counsel once the promulgated text is available.

What should affected teams do now?

• List any government-funded projects that build or produce AI training data, and note who would make the exception judgment.
• Check contract and licence terms for personal data, copyright and trade secrets in those datasets, since those are the exception grounds MSIT names.
• If you run a data platform, find out whether a public body would be asked to link data-location information.
• Track promulgation and the subordinate rules MSIT says it will revise, because the six-month clock starts at promulgation.

What are the key dates?

What we did not verify

What we opened: the MSIT press release page of 13 October 2026 and its attached release text, on 2026-10-25 (UTC), including the annex on the AI Hub and One-Window.

What we did not open: the bill texts, the National Assembly record, any promulgation notice, the presidential decree grounds, and any English translation. We make no statement about an Assembly vote or its date. We did not check the AI Hub or One-Window services themselves.

What we refuse to claim: that the amendments have been promulgated or are in force, that any penalty applies, or how the exception grounds will be defined.

Related briefings

• AI Regulation News hub
• Asia-Pacific AI regulation tracker
• South Korea AI Framework Act enforcement decree and labelling
• South Korea AI Act high-impact AI duties
• South Korea AI Act generative content labelling
• South Korea PIPC third basic plan and AI raw data