Korea Mandates SBOMs: What It Means for Product Security

On October 22, 2025, the South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT, along with partner government agencies, announced a sweeping new national cybersecurity strategy that places software transparency at the heart of its future cyber defense initiatives. The announcement came in response to a series of high-profile cyberattacks, including breaches at SK Telecom and Lotte Card, which exposed vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure and raised concerns about the security of South Korea's digital ecosystem. As part of this comprehensive interagency plan, Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs) will be mandated for IT systems and products used across the public sector, with institutionalization by 2027.

With this move, Korea joins a growing number of global regulators—including the U.S., EU, and Japan—pushing for mandatory SBOM adoption as a foundational element of software supply chain security. For manufacturers and suppliers doing business in Korea, this signals a clear and urgent need to implement scalable SBOM management practices that go beyond check-the-box compliance.

Korea’s Mandatory SBOM Policy

The Korean government’s “Comprehensive Plan for Information Security Across Ministries” outlines a broad range of new security requirements. Among the most significant is the institutionalization of mandatory SBOM submission for all public sector IT systems and connected products.

By 2027, vendors will need to:

• Submit SBOMs for IT systems in the public, financial, telecommunications, and platform operator sectors
  
  
• Support real-time vulnerability inspection across software components
  
  
• Enable traceability and response across the software supply chain
  
  

This requirement aligns Korea’s approach with similar efforts under the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and U.S. Executive Orders aimed at increasing transparency and reducing systemic risk in connected ecosystems.

Why It Matters

For device manufacturers, software suppliers, and system integrators, Korea’s new SBOM policy will have far-reaching implications:

• Regulatory Alignment: SBOM submission will be essential for doing business with Korean public institutions, similar to how EU CRA and U.S. Cyber Trust Mark requirements are shaping global markets.
  
  
• Software Transparency as a Compliance Baseline: The expectation is shifting from optional visibility to continuous SBOM generation, enrichment, and validation.
  
  
• Security Accountability from the Top Down: Korea’s plan emphasizes CISO empowerment and CEO accountability for information security performance.
  
  
• Enhanced Governmental Oversight: Authorities now have the right to investigate breaches without prior reporting by companies—further raising the bar for proactive, defensible security practices.
  
  

How Finite State Helps You Prepare

At Finite State, we’ve built our platform to handle the full SBOM lifecycle—not just generation, but continuous management, enrichment, validation, and compliance reporting.

Here's how we help device makers and software vendors align with Korea’s evolving requirements:

End-to-End SBOM Management

• Generate SBOMs from binaries, source code, or IaC at any SDLC stage
  
  
• Ingest and unify SBOMs from suppliers for portfolio-wide visibility
  
  
• Distribute SBOMs in SPDX, CycloneDX, or VEX formats to meet global standards
  
  

Continuous Monitoring & Vulnerability Remediation

• Enrich SBOMs with data from 200+ threat intelligence sources
  
  
• Prioritize risks based on exploitability, reachability, and impact
  
  
• Deliver developer-friendly remediation guidance to accelerate fixes
  
  

Compliance-Ready Reporting

• Track SBOM changes over time for audit trails and submission history
  
  
• Generate exportable compliance reports for regulators, customers, or internal teams
  
  
• Maintain confidence during audits with real-time platform insights
  
  

Other Updates: Korea’s Cybersecurity Plan Signals Broader Security Expectations

While SBOMs are a headline feature, Korea’s plan also introduces:

• Security inspections for 1,600 public-facing IT systems
  
  
• Security ratings for enterprises, pushing transparency in private sector capabilities
  
  
• Expanded government authority to investigate breaches without company reports
  
  
• Cybersecurity workforce investment, including 500 white hat hackers trained annually
  
  

These changes underscore the global momentum toward secure-by-design principles, where visibility, accountability, and proactive risk management are essential for success.

Learn More

Korea’s mandate is a clear signal that SBOMs are no longer optional. If you develop or sell connected products and software in Korea—or anywhere SBOM requirements are emerging—now is the time to operationalize your SBOM and software supply chain security practices.

Talk to an expert to learn how Finite State helps global organizations meet SBOM requirements with confidence: Request a Demo