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Signals to be verified, not evidence: press coverage varies between countries.
/Country
South Korea
68/100
attention index
attention index
Attention higher than 97% of countries
#5 of 157 countries · methodology v0.6 · 11 Nov 2026
The country in the five views
- Attention68
- Adoption38
- Regulation83
- Problems and attacks48
- Opportunities53
/Why this colour
how it is computedReported incidents86
18 incidents in the last 24 months · percentile among countries
AI exposure80
percentile among countries
Generative AI use in the population: 40.6% (2026-Q2) · Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
Businesses using AI (OECD): 32.9% (2024) · OECD
AI compute capacity: 6,286 (2026-11) · Epoch AI — GPU Clusters
Missing safeguards34
100 minus the safeguards percentile among countries: higher means fewer safeguards
Regulatory quality: +1.00 (2025) · World Bank
Rule of law: +1.20 (2025) · World Bank
Voice and accountability: +0.88 (2025) · World Bank
The state and AI
how it is computedNot part of the attention index
Openness to AI
83
Exposure to threats
29
as a target 39 · as a cause 19
Open, little exposedMedia coverage: high (10,552 AI articles citing the country in the last 32 days)
Why this value
Exposure to threats = 50% × 39.1 (as a target) + 50% × 19 (as a cause) = 29.1
Reported cyber attacks against institutions and foreign disinformation
Social media monitoring, government disinformation, AI surveillance, spyware, internet shutdowns
What protects
Government access to personal data (V-Dem, expert scale)84
Rule of law (0-100 score)78
2025 · World Bank
Data protection law100
2026-11 · UNCTAD — Global Cyberlaw Tracker
Rules on AI used by the state (GIRAI)43
Shown alongside, not subtracted from the exposure
What we cannot see
We count reported cyber attacks, not all those that happened; there is no worldwide measure of threats made with AI; for surveillance and spyware the sources stop at 2022-2024.
Examples
Examples, not a count
Incidents where the state uses AI
- Purportedly AI-Generated Image Reportedly Misled Daejeon Authorities Searching for Escaped Wolf Neukgu (in the incident list of this card)Apr 2026
- White House appears to use AI to calculate tariff rates (in the incident list of this card)2025
- North Korean hackers use ChatGPT to make deepfake military IDs (in the incident list of this card)2025
- Korean government robot falls down stairs (in the incident list of this card)2024
/What we cannot see
Incidents never reported by the press · reports of serious incidents sent to the authorities and not published · systems registered in the non-public part of the EU database.
/Incidents by period
in the country1
last 6 months
3
6-12 months ago
1
12-24 months ago
+ 13 with only the year
/Where the systems come from
how we knowUnited States9
South Korea3
China1
Germany1
+2 more
developers' headquarters · 13 incidents of 18
/Reported incidents
18 in 24 monthsSep 2026
Attackers Reportedly Used ARTEX, an AI Security-Testing Tool, to Steal Data from South Korean Financial Institutions (opens in a new tab)severity: moderate · partly estimated from the textGenerative AI
country inferred from the textaccording to AI Incident Databaseorigin: China, United States (Anthropic, DeepSeek, xAI, Zhipu AI)AI labs pages: Anthropic, DeepSeek, xAI, Zhipu AI (Z.ai)
Also reported by· 1 article from 1 outlet
- Unknown Threat Actor Uses AI-Driven ARTEX to Target South Korean Finance (opens in a new tab) · crowdstrike.com · 7 Oct 2026
Apr 2026
Purportedly AI-Generated Image Reportedly Misled Daejeon Authorities Searching for Escaped Wolf Neukgu (opens in a new tab)severity: moderate · partly estimated from the text
place: Daejeoncountry inferred from the textaccording to AI Incident Databaseorigin: United States (OpenAI)AI labs pages: OpenAI
Also reported by· 1 article from 1 outlet
- South Korea police arrest man for posting AI photo of runaway wolf (opens in a new tab) · bbc.com · 24 Apr 2026
Apr 2026
KBS AI Translation Subtitles Reportedly Broadcast Profanity During Artemis II Launch Livestream (opens in a new tab)severity: moderate · partly estimated from the textGenerative AI
country inferred from the textaccording to AI Incident Databaseorigin: South Korea (korean-broadcasting-system-(kbs)) · from the deployer
Also reported by· 3 articles from 3 outlets
- “굴러 이X아”…KBS, AI 욕설 자막 생중계 참사 (opens in a new tab) · mk.co.kr · 3 Apr 2026
- Korean TV under fire over profanity glitch in AI subtitles for Artemis II (opens in a new tab) · koreaherald.com · 3 Apr 2026
- KBS provides vulgar Arte-mistranslation during moon mission launch livestream (opens in a new tab) · koreajoongangdaily.com · 3 Apr 2026
Jan 2026
South Korean Woman Allegedly Used ChatGPT to Assess Lethality of Drug-and-Alcohol Mixtures Before Two Fatal Motel Poisonings (opens in a new tab)severity: serious · partly estimated from the text
place: Seoulcountry inferred from the textaccording to AI Incident Databaseorigin: United States (OpenAI)AI labs pages: OpenAI
Also reported by· 1 article from 1 outlet
Automatic match, not yet confirmed by a person: it could be the same incident.
probably the same
2026
Korean woman accused of using ChatGPT to plan murders (opens in a new tab)severity: serious · partly estimated from the textGenerative AI
the source gives only the yearaccording to AIAAIC Repositoryorigin: United States (OpenAI)AI labs pages: OpenAI
Also reported by· 4 articles from 4 outlets
- chosun.com (opens in a new tab) · 19 Feb 2026
- thestar.com.my (opens in a new tab) · 20 Feb 2026
- bbc.co.uk (opens in a new tab)
Automatic match, not yet confirmed by a person: it could be the same incident.
probably the same
Oct 2025
Multiple Purported AI-Assisted Cheating Incidents Reported Across South Korea's SKY Universities During October 2025 Midterms (opens in a new tab)severity: moderate · partly estimated from the textGenerative AI
country inferred from the textaccording to AI Incident Databaseorigin: United States (OpenAI)AI labs pages: OpenAI
Also reported by· 3 articles from 2 outlets
- Cheating scandals at top universities prompt rethink of education in digital era (opens in a new tab) · koreatimes.co.kr · 12 Nov 2025
- A.I. Cheating Rattles Top Universities in South Korea (opens in a new tab) · nytimes.com · 14 Nov 2025
- Top universities react to AI cheating scandals, yet concrete disciplinary steps remain elusive (opens in a new tab) · koreatimes.co.kr · 21 Nov 2025
Automatic match, not yet confirmed by a person: it could be the same incident.
probably the same
2025
Netflix Korean cooking show AI posters draw flack (opens in a new tab)severity: moderate · partly estimated from the textUnspecified AI
the source gives only the yearaccording to AIAAIC Repositoryorigin: United States (Netflix) · from the deployer
Also reported by· 3 articles from 3 outlets
2025
Naver sued for using broadcaster content to train AI systems (opens in a new tab)severity: moderate · partly estimated from the textGenerative AI
the source gives only the yearaccording to AIAAIC Repositoryorigin: South Korea (Naver)AI labs pages: Naver
Also reported by· 5 articles from 5 outlets
2025
White House appears to use AI to calculate tariff rates (opens in a new tab)severity: moderate · partly estimated from the textGenerative AI
the source gives only the yearaccording to AIAAIC Repositoryorigin: United States (Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, xAI)AI labs pages: Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, xAI
Also reported by· 7 articles from 7 outlets
2025
GenNomis AI art generator accused of producing explicit child images (opens in a new tab)severity: moderate · partly estimated from the textGenerative AI
the source gives only the yearaccording to AIAAIC Repository
Also reported by· 4 articles from 4 outlets
2025
North Korean hackers use ChatGPT to make deepfake military IDs (opens in a new tab)severity: moderate · partly estimated from the textGenerative AI
the source gives only the yearaccording to AIAAIC Repositoryorigin: United States (OpenAI)AI labs pages: OpenAI
Also reported by· 5 articles from 5 outlets
2025
Mass AI cheating uncovered at South Korea's Yonsei university (opens in a new tab)severity: moderate · partly estimated from the textGenerative AI
the source gives only the yearaccording to AIAAIC Repositoryorigin: United States (OpenAI)AI labs pages: OpenAI
Also reported by· 4 articles from 4 outlets
Automatic match, not yet confirmed by a person: it could be the same incident.
probably the same
2025
Naver AI mislabels Dokdo as Japanese territory (opens in a new tab)severity: moderate · partly estimated from the textGenerative AI
the source gives only the yearaccording to AIAAIC Repositoryorigin: South Korea (Naver)AI labs pages: Naver
Also reported by· 4 articles from 4 outlets
2024
South Korea privacy watchdog investigates Worldcoin (opens in a new tab)severity: moderate · partly estimated from the textBiometrics and surveillance
the source gives only the yearaccording to AIAAIC Repositoryorigin: Germany (Tools for Humanity/Worldcoin)
Also reported by· 6 articles from 6 outlets
2024
Korean government robot falls down stairs (opens in a new tab)severity: minor · partly estimated from the textAutonomous vehicles and robotics
Also reported by· 2 articles from 2 outlets
2024
South Korea plan for AI textbooks receives backlash (opens in a new tab)Unspecified AI
the source gives only the yearaccording to AIAAIC Repositoryorigin: South Korea (LG CNS, Ministry of Education, Riiid, Samsung SDS)
Also reported by· 6 articles from 6 outlets
2024
Deepfake porn engulfs South Korean schools (opens in a new tab)severity: moderate · partly estimated from the textGenerative AI
the source gives only the yearaccording to AIAAIC Repository
Also reported by· 4 articles from 3 outlets
- the-star.co.ke (opens in a new tab) · 3 Sep 2024
- the-star.co.ke (opens in a new tab) · 4 Sep 2024
- bbc.co.uk (opens in a new tab)
2024
Police arrest 45 in 12 billion won deepfake romance scam (opens in a new tab)severity: moderate · partly estimated from the textGenerative AI
the source gives only the yearaccording to AIAAIC Repository
Also reported by· 1 article from 1 outlet
- biz.chosun.com (opens in a new tab) · 30 Apr 2025
/Laws and safeguards
Regulatory quality+1.00
2025 · World Bank
Rule of law+1.20
2025 · World Bank
Voice and accountability+0.88
2025 · World Bank
AI-specific laws and authorities: coming with new sources.
/In the news
how it worksAI news mentioning the country · 7 Nov – 13 Nov
- Why a South Korean city is turning to a U.S. college to outsmart AI? (opens in a new tab)wmra.org · United States · 9 Nov 2026 · and 103 other outlets
- AI demand unlikely to be derailed by Nvidia CEO controversy, Taiwan supply chain sources say (opens in a new tab)webindia123.com · India · 10 Nov 2026 · and 37 other outlets
- Agoda's AI Assistant Brings Travel Planning and Booking into One Conversation (opens in a new tab)aninews.in · India · 10 Nov 2026 · and 33 other outlets
- Australians are tied to the AI boom, like it or not (opens in a new tab)batemansbaypost.com.au · Australia · 9 Nov 2026 · and 33 other outlets
- US-China AI race could face financial setbacks, mass layoffs over next three years: Report (opens in a new tab)indiatimes.com · India · 10 Nov 2026 · and 23 other outlets
- AI brings new possibilities to tropical farming, regional cooperation (opens in a new tab)bignewsnetwork.com · United States · 9 Nov 2026 · and 21 other outlets
- Stock tips with a beat: Samsung Securities' AI K-pop group racks up views (opens in a new tab)thestar.com.my · Malaysia · 12 Nov 2026 · and 18 other outlets
- Cequence Security and KPMG Collaborate on Joint Report Examining how Organisations can Govern and Secure Agentic AI (opens in a new tab)thehindubusinessline.com · India · 11 Nov 2026 · and 17 other outlets
- AI Opportunity Fund Expands AI Skills Training Across Asia Pacific with 28 Phase Three Local Implementing Partners – Thailand Business News (opens in a new tab)thailand-business-news.com · Thailand · 11 Nov 2026 · and 15 other outlets
- Joint declaration on Paris call for AI safety and security (opens in a new tab)recorder.ca · Canada · 10 Nov 2026 · and 14 other outlets
AI articles mentioning the country in the last 30 days: 9,310 in total, at most 683 in one day (6 Nov 2026).
9,310 AI articles mentioning the country in 30 days
/Index trend
— country ··· worldIndex trend: 18 Oct 2026: country 69, world 36 · 19 Oct 2026: country 69, world 36 · 26 Oct 2026: country 69, world 36 · 2 Nov 2026: country 68, world 36 · 11 Nov 2026: country 68, world 36.
Previous years, reconstructed with today's data: 2023 63 · 2024 69 · 2025 65 why
/AI models released
12 months · outside the index11 models · according to Epoch AI
Motif-3 · Motif Technologies7 Aug 2026
K-EXAONE 2.0 · LG AI Research31 Jul 2026
A.X K2 · SK Telecom29 Jul 2026
Solar Open2 250B · Upstage28 Jun 2026
EXAONE 4.5 · LG AI Research9 Apr 2026