Differentiation from existing 'National Informatization Basic Act', planned to be introduced in February

A legislative seminar on the Basic Act on Intelligent Information Society was held at the National Assembly on the 24th.

The legislative seminar, hosted by Rep. Kang Hyo-sang, included an explanation of the draft Basic Act on Intelligent Information Society, followed by heated discussions among related experts.

In his opening remarks, Rep. Kang stated, "As AI technology surpassing humans and robots, along with supporting intelligent information technologies such as IoT, cloud, and big data continue to evolve, the intelligent information society we once only imagined is becoming reality," and added, "From now on, not only job creation issues but also profit distribution and welfare issues, ethics and legal responsibility issues regarding AI and robots, as well as personal information protection and copyright issues are expected to bring numerous side effects."

In response, our government announced through its 2017 work plan that it would prepare the 'Basic Act on Intelligent Information' to enable the intelligent information society to settle in early. While it is fortunate that the government has taken a stance to respond to the intelligent information society, there are concerns in some quarters that the current 'National Informatization Basic Act' may merely be amended in name to the 'Basic Act on Intelligent Information' without substantial changes.


▲As AI technology surpassing humans and robots, along with supporting intelligent information technologies such as IoT, cloud, and big data continue to evolve, the intelligent information society we once only imagined is becoming reality. (Photo shows visitors at the CES exhibition venue for Samsung VR experience)

Rep. Kang stated, "For the Republic of Korea to leap from an ICT-leading country to an intelligent information technology-leading country and become a world-class role model through proper implementation of the intelligent information society, a sound basic act must be established first," and added, "I have revised and supplemented the bill by gathering various opinions from many experts including the government, related organizations, and academia, starting with the 2015 National Audit of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and leading up to the December legislative discussion forum."

Kim Jong-chul, director of the Center for Public Governance and Law at Yonsei University's Institute of Law, who co-hosted the seminar, said, "In response to the development of the intelligent information society, the existing legal order and legal paradigm appear to face changes unprecedented in our experience," and explained, "While continuously observing the impact of technology on society and the nature of technological development, the work of identifying the essence of such changes is more important than ever. In that regard, the legislative seminar on the Basic Act on Intelligent Information Society has considerable significance."

Basic Act on Intelligent Information Society (Draft) Composed of 6 Chapters and 35 Articles

The Basic Act on Intelligent Information Society (draft), based on a preliminary draft that has not yet undergone the drafting (review) process of the National Assembly Secretariat's Legislative Affairs Bureau, consists of a total of 6 chapters and 35 articles: Chapter 1 General Provisions (Articles 1-5), Chapter 2 Establishment and Operation of the Intelligent Information Society Committee (Articles 6-17), Chapter 3 Establishment and Promotion of Policies for the Intelligent Information Society (Articles 18-22), Chapter 4 Ethics of the Intelligent Information Society (Articles 23-25), Chapter 5 Construction of Development Infrastructure for the Intelligent Information Society (Articles 26-32), and Chapter 6 Supplementary Provisions (Articles 33-35).

Looking in more detail, Chapter 1 describes the purpose and definition of the act and implementation principles, and Chapter 2 mainly contains provisions regarding the establishment, composition, and operation of the Intelligent Information Society Committee. Chapter 3 contains provisions related to basic plans for policy establishment and promotion, policy reflection, development and research, while Chapter 4 includes provisions on an ethics charter of interest to individuals and companies, establishment of an ethics committee, and support measures. Chapter 5 contains provisions regarding establishment of classification standards for intelligent information technology, general principles of responsibility, opinion establishment, and stakeholder coordination, and the final supplementary provisions include national assembly reporting requirements on various aspects of the intelligent information society.

Regarding this, Jeong Chae-yeon, a research professor at KAIST's Graduate School of Future Strategy, who participated in the seminar discussion, pointed out that "the basic act uses the concept of 'human-centeredness,' which may not be appropriate to the contemporary context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and intelligent information society, or could unnecessarily invite misunderstanding." Additionally, Professor Jeong noted regarding the basic act's ethics charter provisions that "it is a unique phenomenon in Korea for the central government agency to publish ethical norms, and in principle, considering the normative nature of ethics, it is not desirable."

Park Jong-il, an attorney at Law Firm Daeho, mainly raised objections to the composition of the Intelligent Information Society Committee. Attorney Park pointed out that the number of vice-chairpersons should be clearly specified, and the specific details of how standing members would be selected are missing. He also stated that the qualifications of the committee chairperson should have a minimum career threshold of 10 years if necessary, and emphasized that the composition of members should prevent the center of gravity in decision-making from tilting too heavily toward the government side.

Whether to Revise and Supplement the National Informatization Basic Act or Enact New Legislation

Kim Hyung-jun, senior researcher at the Future Strategy Center of the Korea Information Society Development Institute, pointed out the need to determine whether to revise and supplement the existing National Informatization Basic Act or enact new legislation like the Basic Act on Intelligent Information Society. Researcher Kim stated, "The National Informatization Basic Act holds a position as a fundamental law, along with ICT special acts and the Information and Communications Strategy Committee, and laws on resolving the information divide," and added, "Promotion of new legislation that reviews all matters regarding coexistence and coexistence of national informatization and intelligent informatization, and their development, is necessary." He also pointed out that when defining terms such as developers, services, and service providers in regulations establishing fundamental legal relationships for intelligent information society, there is a risk that the objective of such regulations could be mistaken for promotion of intelligent information services, industries, and services promotion legislation.

Seo Jin Eo, a legislative official at the National Assembly Secretariat's Legislative Affairs Bureau, said, "While the basic principles for promoting intelligent information society policies are defined as national and local government entities, their practical content is ambiguous and some overlaps exist," and also emphasized, "In the case of public-private cooperation forum composition, consideration should be given to strengthening its function as a social consultative body by serving not only for opinion gathering but also for managing stakeholder conflicts." Legislative Official Seo noted as future tasks that "while it is desirable that this bill focuses on gathering private opinions and coordinating interests to prepare for and address potential problems in preparing for and implementing the intelligent information society, with emphasis on ethical issues, support and compensation systems for developing and utilizing intelligent information technology should be more comprehensively included."

Those who observed the seminar and discussion forum that day were most concerned that the Basic Act on Intelligent Information Society might serve as "yet another law for regulatory purposes." Therefore, each stressed that the purpose and intent of the law must be clear. For example, there were concerns about the political neutrality of the Intelligent Information Society Committee to be created through the law and inter-ministerial self-interest, and strong doubts persisted about how the committee could resolve conflicts arising in the intelligent information society.

Sim Woo-min, an investigator at the National Assembly Legislative Research Service, responded to this by saying, "Given the current overflow of various promotion laws and committees such as the Telecommunications Business Act, Software Industry Promotion Act, and Information and Communications Convergence Act, a determination must be made whether to establish or reorganize new promotion legislation and promotion systems," and added, "Since it is impossible to predict the development direction of intelligent information technology, a continuous institutional evaluation system must be established and a foundation for social consultation and coordination must be prepared." Investigator Sim agreed with the point that the intelligent information society is insufficient to be addressed by the existing National Informatization Basic Act alone.

Rep. Kang announced plans to introduce the bill in February. Another law may soon be created. Most importantly, the law should be one that implements and develops the intelligent information society according to its purpose, and should not become a law that 'intelligently' regulates the intelligent information society. Otherwise, the remark "Another law!" would not be without reason.