Suggested citations
AGLC4 | 쏘프트웨어산업법 2013 [Software Industry Law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (2013)] [tr Daye Gang].
Bluebook | Software Saneobbeob 2013 [Software Industry Law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (2013)] translated in Law and North Korea by Daye Gang, https://www.lawandnorthkorea.com/.
Adopted on June 30, 2004, as Directive No. 533 of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Amended and supplemented on October 23, Juche 102 (2013), as Directive No. 3406 of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Article 1 (Objective of the Software Industry Law)
The Software Industry Law of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea shall serve to develop the software industry by strictly setting systems and order in the production, inspection and distribution of software products.
Article 2 (Principle of Status and Development of the Software Industry Sector)
The software industry is the fundamental sector of the information industry which realizes the modernisation and digitization of the national economy. The State shall prioritize the development of the software industry compared to other sectors of the national economy.
Article 3 (Planned Development of the Software Industry)
It is the fundamental character requirement of a socialist economic system to develop the software industry in a planned way. The State shall right the system of planned work of the software sector, shall increase the production of software products and improve technical work in software.
Article 4 (Principle of Inspection of Software Products)
The inspection of software products is important work that judges the quality of software products that have been produced. The State shall conduct inspections of software products using scientific technique in conformity with the nature of the software industry.
Article 5 (Principle of Distribution of Software Products)
It is an important space for the development of the software industry to smoothly conduct the distribution of software products. The State shall abide strictly by the determined order of the sale and exports and imports of software products and of technical work in software.
Article 6 (Principle of Strengthening Material and Technical Foundations of the Software Industry)
Strengthening the material and technical foundations of the software industry is the fundamental guarantee to develop the software industry. The State shall systematically increase investment in the software industry sector to strengthen its material and technical foundations.
Article 7 (Principle of Foreign Exchange and Cooperation)
The State shall develop exchange and cooperation with other countries and international organizations in the software industry field.
Article 8 (Fundamental Requirements of Production of Software Products)
The production of software products is the fundamental process of the software industry. The central software industry leadership body and institutions, enterprises and organizations concerned must produce in a planned way software products to modernize and digitize the national economy.
Article 9 (Drafting a Production Plan)
State planning institutions and institutions concerned must make a software product production plan scientifically. In this case, they must correctly calculate the modern trends and their demands, conditions for production, cost, profit, and possibility of realization of the software industry.
Article 10 (Organization and Application for Registration of Production Units)
An institution, enterprise or organization that wishes to set up a production unit for software products must come to an agreement with the central software industry leadership institution and receive the approval of the institution concerned. An institution, enterprise or organization which has received approval must register the production unit for software products with the central software industry leadership institution. In this case, it must submit a registration application which states things such as the name of the production unit, the number of members in the body, the field of development and facilities held.
Article 11 (Issue of Registration Certificate of Production Unit)
The central software industry leadership institution that has received the registration application must review and approve or reject it based on the development ability and specialization level of software products of the unit concerned. It must issue a registration certificate in the case of approval and a notice stating the reasons why in the case of rejection.
Article 12 (Registration of Planning Indicator)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations which produce software products must finalize planning indicators by quarter on the basis of ratified plans, and divide the indicators by month, and must register them with the central software industry leadership institution. Software products not registered as planning indicators may not be produced.
Article 13 (Deliberation on Design)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations which produce software products must receive deliberation on design of the subject of the production by the central software industry leadership institution and the institution, enterprise, or organization concerned. Deliberation on design about important subjects shall be done by the central software industry leadership institution, and other subjects shall be done by the institution, enterprise, or organization concerned on their own.
Article 14 (Priority Production of Planning Indicators)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations which produce software products must produce software products and cooperative production products interconnected with the national economic plan before other indicators.
Article 15 (Software Products the Subject of Production Approval)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations that wish to produce software products to be used in a standardized way at a national scale such as operating system software, business management software, or information security software must receive the approval of the central software industry leadership institution.
Article 16 (Production of Compilations or Multimedia Products)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations which produce software products may produce different products such as compilations or multimedia products necessary for education and the cultural and aesthetic standards of the people. In this case, they cannot produce products such as compilations or multimedia that do not conform to the public morals or the socialist way of life of the people.
Article 17 (Production by Order)
An institution, enterprise or organization that produces software products may produce software products by receiving an order. The institution, enterprise or organization that has taken the order must conclude a contract with an orderer and register the relevant indicator with the central software industry leadership institution.
Article 18 (Approval of Contracts for Foreign Orders)
An institution, enterprise or organization that has taken an order for production of software products from a corporation or individual of another country must submit the contract documentation to the central software industry leadership institution and receive approval. The central software industry leadership institution must review things like the item name of the software product to be produced to order, the fixed date for payment, terms of payment, dispute resolution, and the governing law within 5 days and inform of the results.
Article 19 (Research and Development of Software)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations must staunchly research and develop software necessary for the digitization of their sector. Individual citizens may also research and develop software.
Article 20 (Request for Product Production)
In cases where an institution, enterprise, organization or citizen wishes to produce and distribute software they have researched and developed, they must request it from an institution, enterprise or organization that produces software products.
Article 21 (Guarantee and Institution of Specifications)
An institution, enterprise or organization that produces software products must guarantee determined specifications. The work of instituting sector specifications in software shall be done by the central software industry leadership institution.
Article 22 (Establishment of Production Process and Technical Guidance)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations that produce software products shall make production processes by indicator and must abide strictly by their requirements. In this case, they must consult the central software industry leadership institution for technical issues raised.
Article 23 (Inspection Institution)
Correctly conducting inspections of software products is a fundamental condition to raise the quality of software products. The inspection of software products shall be done by the software quality inspection institution.
Article 24 (Duty to Be Inspected)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations which have produced software products must receive compulsory quality inspections. Institutions, enterprises and organizations that have received quality control system certification may inspect software products produced on their own.
Article 25 (Submission of Inspection Applications)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations that wish to receive inspections of software products must submit an application to the software quality inspection institution. In these cases, they must submit together with a sample and specifications of the product, the requirement specification, technical documents such as instruction manuals and a certificate of trademark registration.
Article 26 (Inspection Method)
Inspection of software products shall be done by the method of sampling inspection, inspection of the entire stock, or selective inspection, depending on the subject. A software quality inspection institution that has received an inspection application must correctly inspect whether things such as functionality, effectiveness, reliability, compatibility, maintainability and portability of the software product conform with determined standards based on the specifications and technical documents.
Article 27 (Request for Documents)
A software quality inspection institution may request the guarantee of conditions for inspection such as necessary materials and facilities from institutions, enterprises, or organizations that have submitted an inspection application. The institution, enterprise or organization concerned must guarantee in time the conditions for inspection required by the software quality inspection institution.
Article 28 (Issue of Notice of Product Inspection and Quality Inspection Certificate)
A software quality inspection institution must inspect software products and then issue a notice of product inspection or a quality inspection certificate. In the case of a sampling inspection a notice of product inspection shall be issued, and in the case of an inspection of the entire stock or selective inspection a quality inspection certificate shall be issued.
Article 29 (Inspection Fee)
An institution, enterprise or organization that has received the inspection of software products must pay the relevant fee. The work of determining the fee shall be done by the State pricing institution.
Article 30 (Adherence to the Order of Distribution of Software Products)
The distribution of software products is the important work of selling, exporting and importing produced software products or doing technical work in software. The institution, enterprise or organization concerned shall distribute software products in different forms and methods to smoothly guarantee demand for software products.
Article 31 (Indication of Logo and Production Unit)
Software products produced must have logos and must correctly state things like the product name, technical nature, production unit, manufacture date and specification number.
Article 32 (Sale of Software Products)
The sale of software products shall be done through designated work enterprises. An institution, enterprise or organization that wishes to set up an enterprise that specializes in selling software products must receive the approval from the central software industry leadership institution.
Article 33 (Software Products that May Not Be Sold)
The following software products may not be sold.
1. Software products that have not received the permission of the copyright holder;
2. Software products currently in production;
3. Software products that have not received an inspection;
4. Software products that do not have a logo;
5. Software products that have not received pricing approval or where pricing registration has not been done.
Article 34 (Software Products and Export)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations who wish to export software products must receive the confirmation of the software registration institution. Software products that have not received the confirmation of the software registration institution may not be exported.
Article 35 (Import of Software Products)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations may import software products required for places such as scientific research or education. In this case, it must receive the approval of the central software industry leadership institution.
Article 36 (Technical Work in Software)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations that wish to do technical work in software such as the installation, construction, maintenance, technical support, technical advice or dissemination of software must receive the approval of the central software industry leadership institution.
Article 37 (Credit Guarantee System)
The State shall execute a credit guarantee system in the sale of software products and technical work in software. The period of credit guarantee shall be determined by the institution, enterprise or organization concerned in conformity with the nature of the product or the work.
Article 38 (Institution and Registration of a Software Product Price)
The price of a software product shall be determined by the State pricing institution and the central software industry leadership institution or the institution, enterprise or organization concerned. A software product price that an institution, enterprise or organization has determined on its own shall be registered with the pricing institution concerned.
CHAPTER V. STRENGTHENING OF THE MATERIAL AND TECHNICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY
Article 39 (Fundamental Requirements for Strengthening the Foundations of the Software Industry)
The strengthening of the material and technical foundations of the software industry sector is important work for the training of necessary experts, adopting advanced scientific and technical results and improving industrial structure. The central software industry leadership institution and the institution concerned must strengthen the material and technical foundations of the software industry sector.
Article 40 (Precedence of Scientific Research)
The central scientific and technical administration leadership institution and the institution concerned must prioritize the scientific research of the software sector. The central scientific and technical administration leadership institution and institutions, enterprises and organizations concerned must strengthen connections with scientific research institutions in the technical research and production of software products.
Article 41 (Training of Software Experts)
The central education leadership institution and institutions concerned shall systematically increase the scale of training of technicians and experts in the software sector and improve the content and method of education to train competent software technicians and experts in a planned way.
Article 42 (Modernization of Technical Equipment)
The central software industry leadership institution and the institution concerned must update software product production facilities and development tools, manage information materials bases and must disseminate results accomplished in the software industry sector in time.
Article 43 (Expansion of Software Product Production and Technical Work Units)
The central software industry leadership institution and the institution concerned must raise the specialization level in conformity with the requirements of the development trends and economic development of the software industry and must increase the production of software products and technical work units.
Article 44 (Guarantee of Funds)
Financial banking institutions and the institution concerned must correctly determine earmarked funds necessary for facilities for the production of software products, technical work in software, and the digitization of the national economy, and for the purchase and operation of software products and make a financial management system for the software industry sector.
Article 45 (Guarantee of Information Communications)
The central software industry leadership institution and the institution concerned must be fully equipped with modern communication infrastructure to guarantee information communications and must resolve scientific and technical issues to realize the speeding up of information.
CHAPTER VI. GUIDANCE AND CONTROL OVER WORK IN THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY SECTOR
Article 46 (Fundamental Requirements)
Strengthening guidance and control over work in the software industry sector is the basic guarantee for correctly implementing the software industry policy of the State. The State shall right the guidance system for work in the software industry sector and strengthen control.
Article 47 (Guidance Institution)
The standardized guidance of the State for the work of the software industry sector shall be done by the central software industry leadership institution. The central software industry leadership institution shall correctly dominate and guide the production, inspection, distribution, and joint development work with other countries of software products.
Article 48 (Scientization and Interconnection with Plan of Enterprise Management)
The central software industry leadership institution and the institution concerned must correctly determine the basic unit consumption levels and labor quotas in production of software products and must scientifically manage enterprises. State planning institutions and the institution concerned must interconnect plans in the software sector such as technical research, training of experts, and exports and imports in time.
Article 49 (Confidentiality)
Institutions and citizens concerned must strictly keep secrets they come to know in the process of deliberating on design for the subject of a software product for production or a software product inspection. Technical documents, materials and product samples used in documents for deliberating on design and for product inspection may not be used for other purposes.
Article 50 (Supervision and Control)
The supervision and control of work in the software industry sector shall be done by the central software industry leadership institution and the supervision and control institution concerned. The central software industry leadership institution and the supervision and control institution concerned shall normally supervise and control the production, inspection and standard of distribution of software products.
Article 51 (Inspection of Entry and Exit)
Customs and institutions concerned must strictly perform inspections of software products entering and exiting. In this case, software products that have not received the confirmation of the software registration institution must not be let out into other countries.
Article 52 (Confiscation)
In cases where software products that have not been allowed to be sold have been distributed or where software products have been exported or imported without approval, the software and money concerned shall be confiscated.
Article 53 (Administrative or Criminal Liability)
The worker accountable of the institutions, enterprises or organizations and individual citizens who have caused interference with the development of the software industry by violating this law shall administrative or criminal liability imposed depending on the circumstances.
Last updated 6 June 2020