South Korea’s FTC seeks public views on draft AI advertising guidelines

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has begun collecting public views on draft guidelines addressing potentially misleading claims that products use artificial intelligence, Yonhap reported on October 22. The consultation runs through November 11. The proposed guidance matters to businesses advertising AI features and to consumers weighing whether those claims justify greater trust or a higher price.

Yonhap reported that the guidelines address four categories of potential violations of the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising. They also include a checklist for businesses to assess their own advertising and answers to frequently asked questions. The guidance is a draft and would not itself be legally binding, the FTC said, according to Yonhap.

Why the FTC is examining AI claims

The draft also addresses the use of AI-generated virtual people and fabricated reviews to promote food and pharmaceutical products to older consumers, Yonhap reported. That concern extends beyond claims about what a product can do to the apparent identity and authenticity of people endorsing it.

How the draft fits earlier advertising oversight

In a May 2025 statement, the FTC described ‘AI washing’ as promoting a company or product as using innovative AI when its connection to the technology is absent or limited. The definition gives context to the new draft’s focus on how advertisers describe AI features, without establishing that any of the products cited in the consultation broke the law.

That earlier statement described a monitoring arrangement with the Korea Consumer Agency. It said monitoring could lead to recommendations that advertisers correct claims voluntarily, while the FTC planned investigations where recommendations were ignored or serious violations were suspected. The current comment period gives businesses and consumers until November 11 to respond to the proposed guidance before the commission takes any further step on it.