South Korea races to enforce first comprehensive AI law on Jan 22

South Korea is moving from drafting to enforcing an AI framework faster than any other major economy, leaping ahead of the EU in actual implementation. The law combines promotional goals—national AI plans, investment support, data centers—with stricter obligations for “high‑impact” AI affecting health, finance and fundamental rights. For frontier developers, this turns Korea into an early test case for risk‑based regulation: how clear are category definitions, how heavy is the compliance burden, and does it meaningfully change deployment behavior or just add paperwork?

In the AGI race, early enforcement could cut both ways. On one hand, formal rules and a grace period may give Korean companies more legal certainty than the current patchwork of guidelines in many countries, potentially speeding up deployment in regulated sectors. On the other, firms nervous about being the first enforcement example may steer away from truly experimental systems or relocate risky research to friendlier jurisdictions. The world will watch how Korea applies watermarking, audit, and agent accountability requirements in practice—and whether these become templates for other governments or cautionary tales.