South Korea: Enforcement Decree of the Personal Information Protection Act on Automated Decisions (Presidential Decree No. 34300)

Republic of KoreaRegulationApplicable

Amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Personal Information Protection Act specify data subject rights regarding automated decisions, taking effect on March 15, 2024 following Cabinet approval on March 6, 2024. While the decree addresses general data protection matters including Chief Privacy Officer qualifications and public-sector assessments, Warden Watch focuses specifically on its framework for fully automated decision-making systems, such as AI tools. The decree defines automated decisions as final determinations affecting rights or obligations made through fully automated systems without substantial human intervention, explicitly citing AI-only job interview disqualifications as a covered example. Personal information processors must publicly disclose the standards, procedures, and processing methods for automated decisions in advance. Data subjects have the right to request concise, meaningful explanations and reviews, and may outright refuse automated decisions that significantly restrict or deprive rights, compelling deployers to either withhold application or re-evaluate the outcome through meaningful human intervention within 30 days.

Impact

What this means for HR and vendors

HR and recruitment teams

HR teams deploying automated hiring, promotion, or workplace monitoring software must audit processes to identify whether hiring or disciplinary decisions occur without substantial human intervention. If an AI tool rejects applicants automatically without substantive review by an authorized hiring committee, organizations must publish the decision criteria and procedures in advance. HR departments must establish operational procedures to deliver concise explanations upon candidate request, handle employee opinion submissions, and provide re-evaluations with meaningful human oversight within 30 days if an automated decision is formally contested or refused.

HR technology vendors

Providers of AI recruitment platforms, automated assessment software, and workforce analytics tools must architect systems to support client compliance with South Korean automated decision-making rules. Although direct statutory compliance duties fall on personal information processors, providers face strong commercial demands to supply clear documentation regarding key data variables, operational logic, and decision criteria. Systems should include configurable functionality that prevents fully automated adverse outcomes by default, facilitates logging of human review, and enables employers to re-process decisions with human intervention when candidates exercise statutory refusal or review rights.

Key obligations

What organizations need to do

Practical obligation briefings focused on what the requirement is, who it applies to, when it applies and what teams should consider doing.

DeployerTransparency & Notice

Provider Documentation and System Configurability Support

OBLIGATION

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This page is regulatory intelligence only. Organizations should seek guidance from legal counsel before making compliance decisions.

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This may be part of wider regulation. The Warden Watch extracts and displays the parts relevant to employment, HR and recruitment decision-making.

HR and recruitment teams

HR technology vendors

Pre-Deployment Transparency and Disclosure of Automated Decision Standards

Right to Concise and Meaningful Explanation

Review of Data Subject Opinions and Submitted Personal Information

Right to Refuse Automated Decisions Having Significant Impact

Verification of Substantial Human Intervention

Provider Documentation and System Configurability Support

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