Legal balance deficit of 1.6 trillion... ‘Korean-style AI’ must be built to protect domestic legal sovereignty

Democratic Party Rep. Kwon Chil-seung and AI Association debate… “There is an urgent need for a legislative decision to eliminate legal uncertainty”
Industry and legal circles unanimously say, “Legislative decision to eliminate uncertainty... we need a minimum track to lead innovation.”

In line with the recently implemented AI Basic Act, a forum for discussion was held at the National Assembly to increase public access to justice and establish the legal status of the legal tech industry.

On the 9th, the office of Rep. Kwon Chil-seung of the Democratic Party of Korea and the Korea Artificial Intelligence Association held the ‘Legal Tech Policy Debate to Guarantee People’s Rights and Choices in the AI ​​Era’ in the 2nd Seminar Room of the National Assembly Building.

In his welcoming speech, Representative Kwon Chil-seung emphasized, “AI technology should become a wise tool that expands human capabilities,” and “Rather than rejecting the wave of technology, we should lead the change with the insight of experts.”

Choi Yi-seon, policy expert at the Korea Artificial Intelligence Association, who gave a presentation on the topic, pointed out the crisis in the domestic legal market, saying, “As of 2024, the legal service trade balance deficit exceeded 1.6 trillion won.” Commissioner Choi Yi-seon said, “Building a ‘sovereign legal AI’ that accurately embodies the spirit of domestic law, rather than a global AI model learned based on English and American law, is to protect legal sovereignty,” and added, “What is needed now is a legislative decision to lay a minimum track so that legal tech companies can run without legal uncertainty.”

In the discussion that followed, Yang Cheon-soo, a professor at Yeungnam University Law School, served as the moderator, and attorney Seo-hyung Lee of Daeryun Law Firm appeared as a panelist representing the legal community. Attorney Seo-Hyung Lee said, “With more than 70% of domestic civil lawsuits filed without lawyers for both plaintiffs and defendants in recent years, Legal Tech is a key tool to increase the public’s access to justice.” He suggested, “We need a flexible regulatory design that guarantees maximum autonomy in providing simple legal information by applying the risk-based approach of the AI ​​Basic Law and mandates lawyer review by setting documents submitted to the court as high-risk areas.”

Specific demands from industry figures continued. Elbox CEO Jin Lee called for preemptive legislation, saying, “Through RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) technology, we are proving the stability of AI by dramatically reducing hallucinations,” and Nexus AI CEO Jaewon Lee appealed for revision of the Attorney Act, saying, “The ambiguous provisions of the Attorney Act are blocking rational collaboration for AI development.”

Meanwhile, in attendance at the debate on this day were the organizers, Rep. Kwon Chil-seung, Rep. Park Ji-won, and Rep. Park Hee-seung of the Democratic Party of Korea. In addition, various experts including Kim Hyun-cheol, President of the Korea Artificial Intelligence Association, Choi Yi-seon, policy expert, who participated as discussants, Lee Seo-hyung, lawyer at Daeryun Law Firm, Lee Jin, CEO of Elbox, Lee Jae-won, CEO of Nexus AI, Jeong Woo-seok, head of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Justice, and Oh Cheong-mi, director of the National Legal Information Center of the Ministry of Government Legislation, attended and held heated discussions about the future of the legal tech industry.

[Law Leader Reporter Son Jeong-heon twson@lawleader.co.kr]

[View full article]
Lawleader - Legal balance deficit of 1.6 trillion... ‘Korean-style AI’ must be built to protect domestic legal sovereignty (Go)
Roissue - Legal balance deficit of 1.6 trillion... ‘Korean-style AI’ needs to be built to protect domestic legal sovereignty (link)
Pinpoint News - “Gyeonggi-do will strive to promote Legal-Tech, the best place for AI” (Shortcut)
Presian - Assemblyman Kwon Chil-seung holds policy debate to seek development of legal tech industry in AI era (Go here)
Electronic Newspaper - Domestic legal tech 'emergency situation' due to antropic shock... Industry: “It is urgent to enact the Legal Tech Promotion Act” (Shortcut)
Shin-A Ilbo - Representative Kwon Chil-seung holds Legal Tech policy debate (link)
iNews24 - National Assembly member Kwon Chil-seung "Gyeonggi-do is the best place for AI... We will strive to promote legal tech" (Shortcut)
Seoul Economic Daily - “Let’s end the war of attrition between the legal profession and IT”… Legaltech win-win debate at the National Assembly (link)