The purpose of this Act is to establish the basic framework for the system of digital signatures in order to secure the safety and reliability of electronic messages and to promote their use, thereby stimulating the use of electronic records and communications on a national level and advancing social benefit and convenience.

The terms used in this Act shall be defined as follows:

1. 1. The term "electronic message" means a piece of information generated and sent, received, or stored in digital form through an information processing system;
2. 2. The term "digital signature" means a piece of information in digital form affixed on, or logically combined to, an electronic message in order to identify the signer and verify that the electronic message has been signed by that signer;
3. 3. The term "certified digital signature" means a digital signature that satisfies the following requirements and is grounded upon an authorized certificate:
   1. (a) That the digital signature creating key shall be held and known only by the subscriber;
   2. (b) That the subscriber shall hold and keep control of the digital signature creating key at the time of signing;
   3. (c) That it shall be able to be ascertained whether there has been any alteration in the digital signature concerned since it was affixed; and
   4. (d) That it shall be able to be ascertained whether there has been any alteration in the electronic message concerned since digital signature was affixed;
4. 4. The term "digital signature creating key" means a sequence of bits used to affix a digital signature to an electronic message;
5. 5. The term "digital signature verifying key" means a sequence of bits used to verify a digital signature;
6. 6. The term "certification" means the act of ascertaining and verifying that the digital signature creating key is held and known only by the subscriber;
7. 7. The "certificate" means a computer-based record ascertaining and verifying that the digital signature creating key is held and known only by the subscriber;
8. 9. The term "authorized certificate" means a certificate that a licensed certification authority issues in accordance with Article 15;
9. 10. The term "authorized certification work" means the affairs of offering authorized certification services, such as the issuance of authorized certificates, the maintenance of certification-related records, etc.;
10. 11. The term "licensed certification authority" means an entity that is, in accordance with Article 4, designated as such in order to offer authorized certification services;
11. 12. The term "subscriber" means a person whose digital signature creating key has been certified by a licensed certification authority;
12. 13. The term "signer" means a person who holds his own digital signature creating key and signs in his/her own name or on behalf of another person; and
13. 14. The term "information on individual" means a piece of information that pertains to a living individual, which is such marks, letters, voice, sound, image, physical characteristics, etc. as may serve to establish the identity of the person concerned with the help of name, resident registration number, etc. (including such information as may, even if this information is short of identifying a specific person, combine easily with other information to establish his/her identity).

[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 6585, Dec. 31, 2001]