Data-center law in South Korea
National jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-06
South Korea has no data-center-specific siting or permitting statute of the kind this topic catalogues elsewhere; a large-scale data center instead falls under general regimes for electricity-grid impact, electricity supply, and cloud-industry incentives.
The Special Act on Activation of Distributed Energy requires a business entity that intends to use electricity above a Presidential-Decree threshold, in an area designated for it, to conduct and submit a power system impact assessment before obtaining project approval (Arts. 23-24).
The Electric Utility Act bars an electricity generation, sales, or related business entity from refusing to supply electricity without good cause (Art. 14) and, through a 2023-2024 amendment package, defines a licensed business of supplying electricity to electric transmission constraint areas, for consumers sited where transmission capacity cannot match generation capacity (Art. 2(12-2) to (12-15)).
The Act on the Development of Cloud Computing and Protection of Its Users lets the State and local governments grant full or partial tax exemptions to promote the development and use of cloud computing technologies and services (Art. 10).
Separately, and outside any of this topic's seven law families, the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection requires an operator of integrated information and communication facilities above a Presidential-Decree size threshold, Korea's statutory term reaching a data center, to take protective measures for stable operation, carry insurance against facility damage, submit to Ministry of Science and ICT inspection and corrective orders, and report service interruptions (Art. 46); that duty attaches to facility resilience and security rather than to siting, permitting, or utility service, so it is not recorded as an instrument of this topic.
01
Instruments on record
3 instruments on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.
Energy and grid
What authorizations govern grid connection and onsite generation?
Electric Utility Act, obligation to supply electricity and transmission-constraint-area business
In force
Electric Utility Act (Act No. 6283, as amended by Act No. 19813 and Act No. 20206), Arts. 2, 14, 102
Effective 2024-06-14 · Applies to both
Article 14 bars an electricity generation business entity, electric sales business entity, and several other named categories of electric utility business entity from refusing to supply electricity without good cause prescribed by Presidential Decree; a violation is punishable under Art. 102(1)(1) by imprisonment with labor for not more than two years or a fine not exceeding KRW 20,000,000.
A 2023-2024 amendment package added a new licensed category, the business of supplying electricity to electric transmission constraint areas, defined at Art. 2(12-14) as supplying electricity that cannot be supplied to an electric sales business entity through the electricity market because generation capacity and transmission capacity do not match, to new facilities of electricity consumers located near the generating installation.
That definition and the related new-electric-utility-business-entity definitions at Art. 2(12-2), (12-3), and (12-10) through (12-13) took effect June 14, 2024 under a proviso in their amending Act's own addenda. This gives a data center or other large power consumer sited in a transmission-constrained area a supply route outside the ordinary grid connection where the incumbent utility cannot serve it, rather than creating any express power to refuse a new connection.
Source: Full text of law
Special Act on Activation of Distributed Energy, power system impact assessment
In force
Special Act on Activation of Distributed Energy (Act No. 19437, as amended by Act No. 21065), Arts. 23-24
Effective 2025-10-01 · Applies to both
Article 23 requires a business entity that intends to use electricity exceeding a Presidential-Decree threshold, in an area subject to power system impact assessments designated by the Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment, to conduct a power system impact assessment evaluating the smooth flow of electricity, quality maintenance, and the stable supply of power, before it may proceed, with narrow exemptions for disaster response, defense, national security, and Presidential-Decree-designated high-tech-industry projects.
Article 24 requires the business entity to submit the written statement of its assessment to the Minister before applying for the project's approval, authorization, permission, or designation, and lets the Minister require supplementation or, on deliberation by the Electric Policy Council, notify the entity of improvement requirements. The current text of both articles took effect October 1, 2025, the date its own amending Act was promulgated.
Source: Full text of law
Public agreements
What fiscal agreements attach a data center to its host jurisdiction?
Act on the Development of Cloud Computing and Protection of Its Users, tax support for cloud infrastructure
In force
Act on the Development of Cloud Computing and Protection of Its Users (Act No. 13234), Art. 10
Applies to private
Article 10 lets the State and local governments take necessary measures, including full or partial exemption of taxes under the Act on Restriction on Special Cases concerning Taxation, the Act on Restriction on Special Cases concerning Local Taxation, and other tax statutes, in order to promote the development and use of cloud computing technologies and cloud computing services. Article 11 separately lets the Government assist small and medium enterprises engaged in that development and use.
Article 10 has not been amended since the Act's original 2015 enactment, whose own addenda state only that the Act entered into force six months after its promulgation without stating the calendar day.
Source: Full text of law
Every entry cites the instrument it describes.
None of it is legal advice: verify a citation before relying on it. Full
sourcing: read the methodology. The rest of the
record: all jurisdictions.