Korea mandates AI training data sharing under revised AI Framework Act
The October 1 National Assembly vote requires data from government AI projects to be linked to the AI Hub, with trade-secret exceptions still to be defined.
South Korea's revised AI Framework Act, which requires AI training data produced in government-backed projects to be linked to and shared through the national AI data platform AI Hub, passed the National Assembly plenary on October 1, 2026, and was approved at a Cabinet meeting on October 13, according to digitaltoday.co.kr.
The amendment makes it mandatory for data built and generated in state programs to be connected and provided through AI Hub. The law is scheduled to take effect next April, and the government is now working on subordinate legislation.
The revision also allows data to be excluded from disclosure where reasons set by presidential decree apply, including protection of trade secrets, infringement of personal information or copyright, and national security. In those cases, the exclusion requires consultation with the Minister of Science and ICT.
The Ministry of Science and ICT expects to prepare a draft of the enforcement decree within the year, leaving the scope of disclosure and the criteria for trade-secret exceptions as the main points of contention.
Trade-secret concerns raised
The Korea Trade Secret Protection Association issued an official statement on the AI Framework Act revision on October 13.
In August 2025, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency said 5 teams taking part in the first-stage evaluation of standalone AI foundation models had released 29 types of training data, about 35.44 million items, to AI Hub using a data construction and processing budget of 15 billion won. The program required at least 50 percent of data obtained with that budget to be disclosed. NAVER Cloud, Upstage, SK Telecom and NC AI opened all verified data, while LG AI Research released a selected portion to meet the mandatory threshold.
Quick answers
When does the revised AI Framework Act take effect?
The law is scheduled to take effect next April, with the government preparing subordinate legislation.
What data must be shared under the amendment?
AI training data built or generated in government projects must be linked to and provided through the national AI data platform AI Hub.