The 12th Korea Internet Governance Forum (KrIGF 2023) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

1. On 7 July 2023 the 12th Korea Internet Governance Forum met in hybrid form at Seoul's Franciscan Education Center, staging twelve sessions across AI, cybersecurity and governance tracks under the theme 'Change Up the Internet! Trustworthy AI Governance.'
2. In its first edition after ChatGPT's debut, the forum confronted generative AI's use of copyrighted training data and creator protection, alongside .kr domain policy, the UN cybercrime treaty and even climate change.
3. The AI-copyright tension is being fought in every jurisdiction; Korea's format — creators, industry and regulators on one panel — is a template worth studying.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on The 12th Korea Internet Governance Forum (KrIGF 2023) draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.

Conference at a Glance (from official records)

(See the source list at the end of this article.)

Discussion Digest — from the Session Records

Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.

1. Generative AI and Copyright — Training Data and Creator Protection

Sessions: Session 7 'Copyright in AI Training Data and Creator Protection' (moderated by Oh Byoung-il, Jinbonet)

• At the first KrIGF after ChatGPT's debut, panellists examined generative AI's impact on creative work, the legality of training on copyrighted works, protection of artistic style, and ownership of AI outputs [3]
• Representatives of the webtoon artists' union sat alongside industry, academia and the Korea Copyright Commission — creators at the same table as regulators [3]

2. .kr Domain Policy — From or.kr Eligibility to WHOIS

Sessions: Session 2 'National Domain Policy Issues and Future Directions' (moderated by Yoon Bok-nam; presentations by Prof. Kang Kyung-ran of Ajou University and Oh Byoung-il of Jinbonet)

• Four questions were on the table: relaxing eligibility for the non-profit or.kr space, shortening regional domains (e.g. daegu.kr to dg.kr), creating new public second-level domains, and privacy in WHOIS lookups [4]
• The backdrop was stagnating .kr registrations while trendy strings like .ai boomed; KISA officials joined the panel [4]

3. A Broadening Agenda — From the UN Cybercrime Treaty to the Climate Crisis

Sessions: Session 11 'International Regulation of Cybercrime: The UN Treaty Negotiations' and Session 12 'Internet Governance for Carbon Neutrality and the Climate Crisis'

• With negotiations on the UN cybercrime convention in their final stretch, a session examined the direction of international cybercrime regulation [5]
• Another session framed carbon neutrality and the climate crisis as internet-governance issues, stretching the agenda to digital policy's outer edge [5]

4. Youth Sessions — Young People Setting the Agenda

Sessions: Four youth sessions: data sovereignty, cybersecurity governance models, GPAI and Korea's response, and the role of youth in internet governance

"The active participation of diverse stakeholders is critically important (translated from Korean)"
— Park Jung-seop (Director, Digital Infrastructure, KISA) [1][2]

• Four of the twelve sessions were youth-proposed, with young participants leading debates on data-sovereignty models and Korea's response to AI governance initiatives such as GPAI [1][2]
• Alumni of Asia-Pacific youth programmes help propose and run sessions — next-generation capacity building is now a structural feature of the forum [1][2]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What was the headline in 2023?

A. Generative AI. In the first edition after ChatGPT, the theme itself was 'Trustworthy AI Governance' — and the webtoon artists' union debated at the same table as industry and the Copyright Commission.

Q. The most contentious point?

A. Where to draw the AI-copyright line: is training on copyrighted works fair use, is artistic style protectable, and who owns AI outputs? The unresolved tension was the agenda.

Q. Why should I care?

A. Every jurisdiction is fighting the same copyright battle over AI training data. Korea's multistakeholder session design offers a workable template for that debate.

What Is Korea IGF? (for first-time readers)

Korea IGF is a National or Regional IGF Initiative (NRI), aligning local internet governance discussion with global IGF principles.

Why It Matters to You

What was discussed here becomes the baseline for national digital policy, platform rules and AI regulation worldwide within a few years. The principles confirmed at the 2023 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.

Sources & References

1. 2023년 제12회 한국인터넷거버넌스포럼(KrIGF) 개최（KISAプレスリリース） — 韓国インターネット振興院（KISA） (accessed 2026-07-11)
2. 2023년 제12회 한국인터넷거버넌스포럼(KrIGF) 개최（第12回KrIGF開催） — 데일리시큐（Daily Secu） (accessed 2026-07-11)
3. [세션7] 인공지능 학습 데이터의 저작권과 창작자 보호, 어떻게 할 것인가?（AI学習データの著作権と創作者保護） — KrIGF事務局（韓国インターネットガバナンスフォーラム公式サイト） (accessed 2026-07-11)
4. [세션2] 국가도메인 정책이슈 공유 및 발전방향 토의（国家ドメイン政策イシューの共有と発展方向討議） — KrIGF事務局（韓国インターネットガバナンスフォーラム公式サイト） (accessed 2026-07-11)
5. 2023 한국인터넷거버넌스포럼(KrIGF) 국문보고서／영문보고서（公式報告書・韓国語/英語） — KrIGF事務局（韓国インターネットガバナンスフォーラム公式サイト） (accessed 2026-07-11)

Quotes are translated or condensed from the records listed above. Bracketed numbers [n] refer to the source list.

Related links

• IGF official (NRI list): https://www.intgovforum.org/en/content/national-and-regional-igf-initiatives
• Japan IGF: https://japanigf.jp/
• Yuki Nakazawa's blog: https://nkzw.jp/category/igf/

Revision History

Rev. 1 — published 7 July 2023, 16:00 (Article published)

Rev. 2 — updated 16 July 2026, 20:09 (Fully revised into the in-depth edition: added the 3-line summary, minutes digest, short talk, source list and diagrams (all quotes verified against the listed sources))

— 中澤祐樹