The Electronic Financial Supervisory Regulations imposes a local processing requirement for financial services who intend to utilize cloud services for credit information and unique identification information (e.g. resident registration number, driver’s licence number, passport number and alien registration number) (Art. 14-2). Financial companies and electronic financial business operators are required to use cloud systems located in Korea for processing of personal credit information and unique identification information. This provision was inserted as part of an amendment in December of 2018.

Per Art. 5 of the Act on the Protection, Use, Etc. of Location Information, any person who intends to engage in location information business shall obtain permission from the Korea Communications Commission. Even if permitted to do such business, location information providers or location-based service providers cannot collect location information of individuals without individual's' consent under Art. 18. These restrictions have been in place since 2005.
It is reported that, although a supplier may export location information once acquiring a permit, Korea has never approved such a permit despite numerous applications by foreign suppliers over the past decade.

Korea has appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

Korea has a telecommunications authority: The Korea Communications Commission. However, it is reported that the decision making process of this entity is not fully independent from the government.

Under the Telecommunications Business Act, telecommunications businesses are divided into two categories: namely, facilities-based telecommunications services (FTS) and value-added telecommunications services (VATS). FTS refers to businesses that install telecommunications line equipment and facilities and provide telecom services. VATS are online services using the FTS network, such as cloud computing services, email, e-commerce platforms, and internet search engines. Since 2009, the Act has prohibited foreigners from owning more than 49% of the stock of a telecom enterprise when it comes to FTS (Art. 8).

Korea does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, accounting separation is required in certain cases: According to the Telecommunications business act, accounting is mandated for facilities-based telecommunications business operators who possess telecommunication service equipment and whose telecommunications service turnover of the preceding year exceeds 30 billion won (approx. 22.5 million USD), and for facilities-based telecommunications business operators who do not possess telecommunication service equipment and whose telecommunications service turnover of the preceding year exceeds 80 billion won (approx. 60.2 million USD).

The Telecommunications Business Act regulates licenses for network equipment and creates rules for the fair use of telecom facilities. Per Art. 8, foreign corporations cannot operate facilities-based telecom business in the country. Foreign ownership is allowed only up to 49% of the stock.

The Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act provides a framework for the effective protection of trade secrets. According to Art.1 of the Act, trade secrets are defined as "information, including a production method, sale method, useful technical or business information for business activity, that is not known publicly, is the subject of considerable effort to maintain its secrecy and has independent economic value. The law (chapter 2) contains provisions for the protection of trade secrets, such as an injunction against infringement, liability for damages, and restoration of reputation.

It is reported that Korea has no obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in the country to deliver telecom services to end users. However, it is practiced in the mobile sector and in the fixed sector based on commercial agreements.

Korea has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Korea has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Korea is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Korea has a clear regime of copyright exceptions that follows the fair use model, which enables the lawful use of copyrighted work by others without obtaining permission. Art. 35.5 of the Korean Copyright Act lists the exceptions, which include any use that does not conflict with the general method of use of the copyrighted work and which unfairly infringes the legitimate interests of the author. To determine whether an act of use of a copyrighted work falls under the fair use model, the following issues are considered: the purpose and nature of the use; the types and uses of copyrighted works; the proportion and importance of the part used in the whole work; and the impact of the use of the work on the market or current value or market or potential value of the work.

The Patent Law, enacted in 1990, does not contain provisions that result in discrimination based on the nationality of a patent applicant. However, according to Art. 25 of the law, non-resident foreigners cannot obtain patents unless their countries provide reciprocal treatment to Korean nationals under the same conditions as their own nationals or their countries have made a treaty or convention arrangement, following the reciprocity principle. In addition, pursuant the Art. 5 of the law, no person with no domicile or place of business in the Republic of Korea cannot initiate any patent-related procedure or file legal proceedings against a disposition made by an administrative authority under the Act or an order issued under the Act, unless they are represented by a patent attorney or patent agent, who has a domicile or place of business in the Republic of Korea. Finally, under Sec. 201, patent applications must also submit a Korean translation of various documents, including, an abstract of the international patent application; a description of the invention, the claims, and the drawings (limited to the titles of the drawings); among others.

Commercial presence is not required in order to provide cross-border services under the Commercial Act and the Enforcement Decree of Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. However, it is reported that "Korea prohibits foreign satellite service providers from selling services (e.g., transmission capacity) directly to end-users without going through a company established in Korea. Given existing investment restrictions, this prohibition significantly restricts the ability of foreign satellite service suppliers to compete in the Korean market".