Regulations in New Industries to Be Removed within One Year

The Ministry of Strategy & Finance of South Korea is looking to adopt mandatory deregulation in new industries by amending the Special Act on the Promotion and Convergence of Information and Communications Technology (ICT Convergence Act) in order to expedite the creation of new markets.

According to the ICT Convergence Act, which was enacted in 2013, new ICT products and services to which no authorization criteria can be applied or existing regulations cannot be applied are allowed to be temporarily released without government permission. Such products and services are allowed for one year and the period can be extended to two years if necessary. However, this clause has been actually applied to only three cases so far as a revision of the related regulations by the government during the grace period is not compulsory.

The amendment of the ICT Convergence Act is to compel the government to revise such regulations within the grace period. According to the government, such fields as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) can benefit from the amendment.

The government is looking to apply the same rule to new technology as well as those fields and services. Experts point out that this can contribute to South Korea’s response to the fourth industrial revolution by promoting the access of new technology to markets.