South Korea Enacts Omnibus Privacy Statute; Rules Due Before Law Takes Effect Sept. 30

SEOUL—A new South Korea comprehensive privacy law, some seven years in the making, was enacted March 29 upon the president’s approval, known in the country as a “presidential promulgation.”

Parliament cleared the Act on the Protection of Personal Data (Law No. 10465) March 11. It will, among other things, require nearly all businesses and government agencies to provide data breach notification, mandate the use of privacy impact assessments before establishing certain new databases, and establish a right to file class actions in court over alleged violations of the law.

The follow-up government enforcement decree and implementing rules will be ...