Why the date matters more than the headline
Korean statutes are usually brought into force in stages, and the stage a foreign group needs is often not the one that was reported. The amendment to the Personal Information Protection Act is the clearest current example. The parts that made the news took effect on 11 September 2026. Two further stages are still ahead, and one of them — the AI training exception — changes what a company may do with data it already holds.
This page lists the dated entries for the coming twelve months, taken from the same source as the Korean calendar. The dates, promulgation numbers and amendment types are read from that source, so the two languages cannot drift apart.
September 2026
| In force | Statute | Type | Promulgated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-18 | Industrial Technology Innovation Promotion Act | Act · amended by another statute | 2026-03-17 · No. 21467 |
October 2026
| In force | Statute | Type | Promulgated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-01 | Telecommunications Business Act | Act · amended by another statute | 2026-03-31 · No. 21503 |
| 2026-10-01 | Telecommunications Business Act | Act · partial amendment | 2026-03-31 · No. 21499 |
| 2026-10-01 | Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (Network Act) From the amendment promulgated 31 March 2026
| Act · partial amendment | 2026-03-31 · No. 21500 |
| 2026-10-02 | Protection of Communications Secrets Act | Act · amended by another statute | 2026-08-04 · No. 21857 |
| 2026-10-29 | Copyright Act | Act · partial amendment | 2026-04-28 · No. 21595 |
November 2026
| In force | Statute | Type | Promulgated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-20 | Telecommunications Business Act | Act · partial amendment | 2026-05-19 · No. 21652 |
December 2026
| In force | Statute | Type | Promulgated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-12-17 | Electronic Financial Transactions Act | Act · partial amendment | 2025-12-16 · No. 21205 |
January 2027
| In force | Statute | Type | Promulgated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-01-01 | Copyright Act | Act · partial amendment | 2026-04-28 · No. 21595 |
| 2027-01-21 | Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce Act) | Act · partial amendment | 2026-01-20 · No. 21312 |
| 2027-01-21 | Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce Decree) | Presidential Decree · partial amendment | 2026-07-20 · No. 36507 |
February 2027
| In force | Statute | Type | Promulgated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-02-12 | Software Promotion Act | Act · partial amendment | 2026-08-11 · No. 21865 |
March 2027
| In force | Statute | Type | Promulgated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-03-09 | Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) AI training exception
| Act · partial amendment | 2026-09-08 · No. 21910 |
April 2027
| In force | Statute | Type | Promulgated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-04-01 | Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (Network Act) From the amendment promulgated 31 March 2026
| Act · partial amendment | 2026-03-31 · No. 21500 |
July 2027
| In force | Statute | Type | Promulgated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-07-01 | Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) Stage 2
| Act · partial amendment | 2026-03-10 · No. 21445 |
Window 2026-09-11 → 2027-09-11 · collected 2026-09-11 · source: the Ministry of Government Legislation effective-date service.
Scope. 10 further entries in the same window concern statutes for which no settled English title was confirmed; they are omitted here rather than given an invented name. Titles shown here were checked against the Korea Legislation Research Institute translations and link to them. The Korean calendar carries every entry.
The three stages of the Personal Information Protection Act amendment
| Date | What it carries |
|---|---|
| 11 September 2026 | Wider definition of leakage · notification where a leakage is only possible · surcharge ceiling raised to 10 per cent of total turnover in the cases the Act specifies · board resolution for the chief privacy officer |
| 9 March 2027 | AI training exception — a new Section 5 of Chapter 3, allowing use beyond the original purpose for developing AI technology, with Commission deliberation and possible conditions |
| 1 July 2027 | Certification made mandatory for controllers specified by Presidential Decree, with the matching administrative fine |
Two points that a summary usually loses.
The AI training exception is not self-executing. All three conditions must be met, the Commission must deliberate and resolve, and it may attach conditions to its approval. Much of the procedure is delegated to the Enforcement Decree, and that Decree has not been made yet. A plan that assumes the exception will be available on 9 March 2027 is assuming something that has not been written.
Article 28-8 is disapplied only in part. It appears in the disapplication list for the AI exception, but only where processing is entrusted abroad. A cross-border transfer that is not entrustment is not covered.
What this calendar is, and is not
It is a list of dates and promulgation numbers, so that an original can be found. It is not a commentary on what each amendment means, and the entries carry no assessment of whether a given change applies to your company.
The scope note under the table is not boilerplate. Every English title here was checked against the Korea Legislation Research Institute translations and links to the official text, so you can read the provision rather than take the name on trust. Where no official English title could be confirmed — mostly statutes enacted too recently to have been translated — the entry is left out rather than given a name that would not lead you to the original. The Korean calendar carries every entry.
One wrinkle worth knowing. Korean titles ending in 「등에 관한」 are rendered with a trailing ", Etc." by the Ministry of Government Legislation’s English service but without it by the Research Institute. This page follows the Institute. If a search for a title fails, try it with and without the suffix.
Related
- Breach notification — the 72-hour clocks and what the published decisions show about late notification
- PIPC enforcement decisions — the published decisions, by article, disposition and year
- Penalty surcharge calculator — how the amount is built, including the raised ceiling
- Korean calendar — every entry, with the Korean statute names
Frequently asked questions
Q. When does the 2026 amendment to Korea’s Personal Information Protection Act take effect?
In stages. The main body — the wider definition of leakage, notification of a possible leakage, the surcharge ceiling of 10 per cent of total turnover, and the board resolution requirement for the chief privacy officer — took effect on 11 September 2026. The AI training exception in the new Section 5 of Chapter 3 follows on 9 March 2027. Mandatory certification for controllers specified by Presidential Decree, with its administrative fine, waits until 1 July 2027.
Q. What is the AI training exception in Korea’s privacy law?
A new Section 5 of Chapter 3, in force 9 March 2027, that allows personal data to be used beyond the purpose for which it was collected in order to develop AI technology, subject to oversight, processing limits and partial disapplication of the Act. All three conditions must be met and the Personal Information Protection Commission must deliberate and resolve on it, and it may attach conditions. Much of the detail is delegated to the Enforcement Decree, which has not yet been made.
Q. Does this calendar cover every Korean IT statute?
No. It covers the statutes whose official English titles are settled. Several further entries in the same window concern statutes for which no settled English title was confirmed; rather than invent a name that would not lead an English reader to the original, they are omitted here. The Korean calendar carries every entry.
This page is general information on Korean law and is not legal advice. Korean is the governing language of the statutes listed — the English titles here follow the published translations and the renderings of the notes are unofficial. Effective dates can change by further amendment; check the original before relying on one.