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Association of Newspapers calls for AI companies to disclose training data

Published: 15 Oct. 2025, 17:14

Korean Association of Newspapers logo [KOREAN ASSOCIATION OF NEWSPAPERS]

The Korean Association of Newspapers submitted a formal letter on Wednesday to the National Assembly and government ministries, calling for legal provisions mandating artificial intelligence (AI) companies to disclose their training data.

In the statement submitted to the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee; the Ministry of Science and ICT; and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the association criticized the upcoming “AI Framework Act” — officially titled the Framework Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and Establishment of Trust — for lacking clear rules on data disclosure. The act is set to go into effect in January of next year.

“The current version of the AI Framework Act does not include an explicit provision requiring AI companies to disclose their training data,” the association wrote. “This poses a limitation in terms of copyright protection and transparency.”

It urged the government to revise Article 31 of the act, which addresses AI transparency, to include mandatory disclosure of training data, with specific implementation details to be laid out in the enforcement ordinance.

The AI Framework Act passed the National Assembly in December of last year. At the time, lawmakers debated whether to include data disclosure requirements but ultimately decided to pass the bill first, stating that deficiencies could be addressed later through amendments.

Controversy over the unauthorized use of copyrighted materials in AI training continues to mount. In April, the Korea Newspaper Association filed a complaint with the Fair Trade Commission against Naver, accusing the company of using news content without consent to train AI.

Amid ongoing debate, Democratic Party lawmaker Park Soo-hyun and People Power Party lawmaker Kim Gi-hyeon each introduced separate bills in June to amend the AI Framework Act, calling for mechanisms that would allow copyright holders to check whether their works were used in AI training.

The newspaper association pointed to the European Union’s AI Act, which took effect in August. That law requires developers of generative AI models to disclose summaries of the sources used for training data.

“Korea must follow suit by legally mandating transparency in training data to protect copyrights, ensure responsible AI development and align with international standards,” said the association.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HA NAM-HYUN [[email protected]]