Korea’s subsequent frontier in AI governance is shifting from laboratories to courtrooms. After turning into the primary nation to totally implement an AI Fundamental Act, lawmakers and tech leaders at the moment are confronting its most human take a look at but: can innovation coexist with the legislation it seeks to remodel its LegalTech? The reply could form not solely Korea’s digital justice system but additionally how democracies adapt AI to their rule of legislation.
LegalTech Coverage Discussion board at Nationwide Meeting Marks Turning Level
On February 9, Rep. Kwon Chil-seung of the Democratic Occasion and the Korea Synthetic Intelligence Affiliation convened a nationwide coverage discussion board on the Nationwide Meeting to debate the nation’s stalled LegalTech Promotion Act.
The occasion gathered legislators, attorneys, and LegalTech founders from Daeryun Regulation Agency, LBox, and Nexus AI to discover sensible cooperation fashions between legislation and expertise below Korea’s new AI governance period.
The discussion board, titled “LegalTech Coverage Debate for Defending Residents’ Rights and Alternative within the AI Period,” addressed structural challenges uncovered by the AI Fundamental Act’s enforcement.
Regardless of Korea’s world-first AI legislation, individuals famous that the present authorized framework fails to reconcile skilled boundaries with digital innovation — leaving verified LegalTech providers constrained whereas residents more and more depend on unregulated AI instruments.
Why LegalTech Turned Korea’s Subsequent Governance Take a look at
Korea’s LegalTech Promotion Act, first proposed by Rep. Kwon in 2024, seeks to outline, legalize, and promote AI-enabled authorized providers inside nationwide regulation. However whereas the AI Fundamental Act established a normal framework for reliable AI, it left LegalTech in a authorized vacuum.
Underneath the Lawyer Act, solely licensed attorneys could present authorized recommendation — that means even verified AI-powered authorized instruments are successfully barred from public use.
That hole has created a paradox. Based on a number of audio system, whereas home LegalTech startups stay restricted, residents already flip to overseas general-purpose AIs like ChatGPT free of charge authorized solutions, exposing themselves to misinformation and information dangers.
Choi Yi-seon, coverage adviser and lawyer on the Korea AI Affiliation, known as it a “regulatory phantasm”:
“Believing that banning LegalTech will cease folks from utilizing AI in authorized providers is probably the most harmful false impression. The general public is already counting on high-risk normal AI methods.”
The information factors are alarming. Korea’s authorized service commerce deficit exceeded KRW 1.6 trillion (~ USD 1.2 billion) in 2024, with rising funds to overseas legislation corporations and abroad AI-based platforms. Specialists warned that until Korea accelerates institutional reform, home authorized information and person interactions might circulate overseas, enriching overseas giant language fashions and weakening nationwide authorized sovereignty.
Trade Voices Name for Speedy Authorized Readability
LegalTech startup leaders used the session to press for pressing motion.
Lee Jin, CEO of LBox, argued that generative AI can democratize entry to justice by narrowing the data hole between residents and authorized professionals:
“AI might help get rid of the asymmetry in authorized info and develop entry to justice. Korea should safe its personal Authorized AI infrastructure as an alternative of relying on overseas fashions.”
Lee Jae-won, CEO of Nexus AI, added that even restricted leisure below lawyer supervision might revive the home ecosystem:
“We’d like not less than a brief safeguard. If attorneys stay accountable, AI-powered instruments shouldn’t be blocked completely. In any other case, expertise corporations with actual functionality nonetheless can not attain shoppers.”
The Korean Bar Affiliation maintains that AI-driven authorized recommendation to non-lawyers violates current legislation. But even authorities officers now acknowledge that prohibition could not be sustainable.
Hong Hyung-seok, Authorized Officer on the Ministry of Justice, confirmed that new AI service tips are below assessment, noting that the ministry is “accumulating professional opinions to difficulty clear requirements as quickly as attainable.”
A Mirror of Korea’s AI Transition
The LegalTech debate mirrors a broader shift throughout Korea’s innovation panorama — from regulatory design to ecosystem calibration. Simply weeks after the AI Fundamental Act’s enforcement, policymakers are recognizing that compliance with out adaptive flexibility dangers immobilizing high-value industries.
Whereas the AI Fundamental Act constructed Korea’s first AI governance construction, the LegalTech debate reveals the place that construction meets friction: skilled exclusivity, institutional inertia, and unclear accountability.
The identical dynamic that after examined AI startups — the battle to interpret broad regulation into operational guidelines — now applies to attorneys and technologists sharing the identical subject.
For Korea’s enterprise ecosystem, LegalTech could quickly change into a litmus take a look at for how AI coverage interprets into investable innovation. If the brand new act passes, it might unlock a legally protected marketplace for specialised AI startups in doc automation, threat evaluation, and shopper illustration — all high-demand areas globally.
If it stalls, overseas LegalTech platforms will proceed to dominate, drawing person belief, information, and capital past Korea’s jurisdiction.
AI in Korea’s LegalTech: From Regulation to Collaboration
Rep. Kwon positioned the LegalTech Promotion Act as each a continuation and correction of Korea’s regulatory momentum.
“When the AI wave transforms skilled fields, battle should give option to coexistence. LegalTech shouldn’t be about changing attorneys, however redefining how human experience and AI can coexist inside the legislation.”
The dialogue underscored a nationwide inflection level. After mastering industrial expertise coverage for {hardware} and chips, Korea is now studying to manage methods that assume. The success of this LegalTech debate could determine whether or not Korea’s subsequent period of AI governance strengthens innovation — or slowly legislates it out of attain.
Key Takeaway: Korea’s LegalTech Turning Level
- Occasion: LegalTech Coverage Discussion board, Nationwide Meeting, Feb 9, 2026.
- Lead Figures: Rep. Kwon Chil-seung and the Korea Synthetic Intelligence Affiliation.
- Core Problem: LegalTech Promotion Act goals to legalize and standardize AI-powered authorized providers.
- Structural Battle: Lawyer Act prohibits non-lawyer authorized observe, limiting home LegalTech regardless of rising international adoption.
- Financial Sign: Korea’s authorized providers commerce deficit hit KRW 1.6 trillion in 2024, with rising reliance on overseas AI methods.
- Authorities Place: Ministry of Justice drafting tips for AI-based authorized providers.
- Ecosystem Significance: LegalTech could outline how Korea’s AI governance evolves from compliance to co-creation.
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