Issue Korea's 2026 technology-regulation task: a trust-based regulatory system

Summary

The essay names building a trust-based regulatory system as the core 2026 task for Korean technology regulation, so that the uncertainty of emerging technologies can be managed institutionally. First, risk-based regulation should be written into law, because Korea discusses risk management only in some fields such as AI and lacks consistent principles for emerging technologies as a whole. Second, trust-based governance should raise social acceptance through co-regulation in which firms and citizens set voluntary standards under minimum government criteria, independent third-party certification, and alignment with global regimes. Third, the sandbox should evolve from a deferral scheme into a platform for policy learning and institutional verification. The author calls for a shift away from trying to control and predict everything through rules toward a sustainable approach that builds and promotes trust.