On September 16, 2026, South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) opened a 40-day public consultation on a partial amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Aviation Safety Act, posting the draft as Public Notice No. 2026-1200 (legislative notice r_id=10055). The consultation, run by the Aviation Safety Policy Division (항공안전정책과), closes on October 26, 2026.
The Enforcement Decree is the binding Presidential Decree that operationalizes the Aviation Safety Act (항공안전법), Korea's master civil-aviation statute covering airworthiness, aircraft operation, personnel licensing and air navigation. A consultation-opening draft to this instrument is where new safety obligations surface before they bind; the specific amended articles are carried in the attached amendment text (개정안) and legislative notice (입법예고문) files, not reproduced on the notice page itself. The notice also confirms, through a separate attachment, that a Regulation Impact Analysis was not filed (규제영향분석서 미첨부 확인서).
What is being amended, and where is the draft text?
The draft partially amends the Enforcement Decree of the Aviation Safety Act, the highest tier of delegated legislation under the Act. In Korea's hierarchy, an Act (beopryul) is enacted by the National Assembly, the President issues an Enforcement Decree (sihaengnyeong) to enforce it, and ministers issue Enforcement Rules for technical detail. The Enforcement Decree requires State Council deliberation, presidential signature and countersignature by the Prime Minister and competent ministers, then promulgation in the Official Gazette (Gwanbo).
The substantive changes are not visible in the HTML notice body. Practitioners must download the attached .hwpx amendment text and the .pdf legislative notice from the MOLIT legislative notice page to read the exact amended articles. The notice itself, posted under Administrative Procedures Act Article 41, is the procedural trigger: it opens the window for stakeholders to review and object before the government submits the finalized decree bill.
Who should review this amendment before October 26?
Korean air carriers (including Korean Air, Asiana, Jeju Air and T'way), foreign carriers operating into Korean aerodromes, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) providers, and aerodrome operators such as Incheon International Airport Corporation and Korea Airports Corporation should treat the consultation as actionable. The Aviation Safety Act Enforcement Decree is where the operational duties these licence holders comply with day to day are fixed; any party holding a Korean air operator certificate or aerodrome operating licence should screen the attached amendments against its current procedures.
MOLIT is the policy and rule-making lead for civil aviation; the Korea Office of Civil Aviation (KOCA) is the technical authority under MOLIT that administers the regime alongside the Regional Aviation Offices and the technical body KIAST. Comments on the draft go to the Aviation Safety Policy Division, the notice's responsible department (담당부서), through the opinion-submission link on the notice page.
How does this consultation differ from the K-UAM decree draft posted on September 15?
This is the second Aviation Safety Enforcement Decree amendment consultation to open in two days, and the two are distinct regulatory events. The September 15 notice (r_id=10041), issued by the Advanced Aviation Division (첨단항공과), targets Korea's urban air mobility (K-UAM) framework. The September 16 notice (r_id=10055), issued by the Aviation Safety Policy Division (항공안전정책과), is the general aviation-safety-policy track. Different division, different notice identifier, different subject matter: they are not the same amendment, and a compliance team tracking one should track both.
| Track | Notice ID | Issuing division | Subject | Posted | Comment close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K-UAM decree | r_id=10041 | Advanced Aviation Division (첨단항공과) | Urban air mobility safety provisions | September 15, 2026 | (prior notice) |
| General safety (this notice) | r_id=10055 | Aviation Safety Policy Division (항공안전정책과) | Partial amendment, Enforcement Decree of the Aviation Safety Act | September 16, 2026 | October 26, 2026 |
What should compliance teams do before the window closes?
Download the .hwpx amendment text and the .pdf legislative notice from the MOLIT notice page, identify every amended article, and map each change to the corresponding procedure in your Korean operations manual. Where a draft obligation tightens an existing duty, document the gap and the remediation cost. Submit formal comments through the MOLIT opinion-registration link (의견등록) by October 26, 2026; comments are public on the notice page under the Administrative Procedures Act.
After the consultation, the finalized decree bill proceeds through government-bill submission, State Council deliberation, presidential promulgation and Gwanbo publication, then takes effect on the date its addenda specify. Tracking the draft through that path is how a team confirms whether a comment-driven change survived into the binding text.
Continuous, per-jurisdiction monitoring surfaces consultation openings like this the moment MOLIT posts them, before trade press catches up.
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Next steps: download the two attachments, brief your airworthiness and operations leads on the amended articles, file comments by October 26, and watch for the promulgation notice in the Gwanbo. The Aviation Safety Act Enforcement Decree is the layer where Korean aviation-safety obligations become binding, and this consultation is the point at which a regulated party can still shape them. Obsidian follows this decree from consultation through promulgation in its Korea aviation monitoring.
