법제처 로고

‘K-Sandbox' to the world

Last fall, people visiting Sejong Lake Park in the city of Sejong, where the Ministry of Government Legislation is located, saw a rare scene ― drones delivering pizza across the lake. This came as a surprise to people familiar with the nation's regulations on flying drones.

The pizza delivery by a drone was made possible because of the regulatory sandbox, which is a system that temporarily exempts the enforcement of regulations on new products or services for a certain period of time, just like a sand playground where children can play freely.

Introduced in Korea in 2019, a regulatory sandbox allows companies to test how useful and safe their new products and services are and allows the government to come up with relevant rules and systems for the firms to roll their products out, if feasibility is confirmed.

This helps companies carry on their new businesses promptly, without waiting for new rules governing their products and services, while the government can monitor and study possible side effects before the new rules are implemented in full swing.

The regulatory sandbox does not limit itself to deregulation. It also helps companies consult with relevant government organizations as well as providing legal advice, loans and patent support which are often necessary in order to turn an idea into a business.

The sandbox program has already played its role in nurturing emerging industries, such as electric vehicle wireless charging, digital healthcare services, autonomous delivery robots, digital driver's licenses and non-face-to-face identity verification. Since its introduction, 699 cases have been approved as of July, and visible outcomes such as an increase in investments, sales and employment were also observed.

Among the 60 countries running their own regulatory sandbox programs, Korea's regulatory sandbox excels in two aspects.

In other countries, the regulatory sandbox is operated mainly by granting “special exemption for demonstrations.” In Korea, however, “temporary permission” and “prompt confirmation program” are available as well for companies' convenience.

Also, unlike other countries where financial firms are mostly subject to regulatory sandbox programs, Korea allows not only financial but also other companies in real economy sectors, namely info-tech, to join the sandbox method.

New technologies are changing the world as the development of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, robots and drones has accelerated the Fourth Industrial Revolution. However, it will be difficult to have them as a growth engine, if new products or services are stuck in a regulatory bottleneck. This is why the Yoon Suk-yeol administration is determined to pursue deregulation.

The Ministry of Government Legislation, together with the Korea Legislation Research Institute, is providing English-translated versions of acts and regulations concerning the country's regulatory sandbox program, in order to share Korea's experience and promote exchanges on laws and systems related to regulatory innovation with other countries.

The English translation of the Special Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Technology and Vitalization of Convergence Thereof is available at the websites of Korea Law Translation Center and Korean Law Information Center. Also, five other statutes and regulations, including the Industrial Convergence Promotion Act, will be translated for service soon.

The Ministry of Government Legislation expects the translation will play its role in sharing Korea's experiences and knowhow with other countries, with the hope of earning a nickname of “K-sandbox” ― just like the country's pop band BTS and drama series “Squid Game” brought the world's attention to “K-culture.”

If our regulatory sandbox program can be accepted as a model case, the world will pay greater attention to Korean companies' competitive edge. To this end, the Ministry of Government Legislation will cooperate with relevant government arms and spare no efforts in promoting Korea's regulation sandbox program so it can be better accessed by governments around the world, as well as foreign companies.

Lee Wan-kyu is the minister of Government Legislation.