South Korea police referred Tesla owners to prosecutors over illegal FSD unlocks
Seoul Metropolitan Police referred dozens of Tesla owners to prosecutors for unlocking FSD with unauthorized devices. What Korean law says, which models can use FSD legally there, and why Romania and the EU follow a different path.
In South Korea, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature is not available on every car in the fleet. On 27 October 2026, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (traffic crime investigation team) said it had referred dozens of owners to prosecutors for unlocking FSD through unauthorized means — devices bought overseas or built at home. This article is based primarily on Yonhap, Korea JoongAng Daily, Herald Business and Seoul Economic Daily.
What police announced
According to Yonhap and JoongAng Daily, investigators referred about 80 people to prosecutors on suspicion of violating Korea’s Motor Vehicle Management Act. Police seized 21 unauthorized activation devices, JoongAng Daily and Herald Business report.
Suspects allegedly used gear bought in Europe or China, or devices they assembled themselves, to unlock FSD on models where the feature is not legally certified in Korea. One case described by Yonhap and JoongAng: a suspect bought a European-made activation device and connected it to their own Tesla. Another suspect, who works in IT, reportedly built a device using information about the car’s electronic control system — JoongAng notes that one suspect drew on material found on the code-sharing platform GitHub.
Police also say online communities shared unlock methods and tips on how to avoid leaving activation traces in the car. We are not publishing how-to steps here: the investigation is about unauthorized external devices and software changes, not an official Tesla upgrade.
Why FSD is illegal on some Teslas in Korea
In Korea, FSD is legally available only on U.S.-built Teslas — Model S, Model X and Cybertruck — which can be exempt from domestic auto safety certification under the Korea–U.S. free trade agreement (FTA). China-built models, including Model 3 and Model Y, have not cleared Korea’s safety standards for the feature, according to Yonhap, JoongAng and Seoul Economic Daily.
JoongAng Daily cites market researcher Carisyou Data Lab: of the 229,311 Teslas on Korean roads as of August, only 47,458 (20.7%) can legally use FSD. The rest of the fleet has no official option — and that is where unauthorized “jailbreak” attempts with unofficial hardware reportedly appeared.
Tesla Korea, Yonhap notes, remotely disabled some unauthorized activations. Attempts continued on some vehicles anyway, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) asked police to investigate in April. Herald Business writes that the investigation itself began in May after the ministry’s referral.
What the law says and what risks police cite
Unauthorized FSD activation is treated as conduct banned by the Motor Vehicle Management Act: arbitrarily changing, installing, adding or deleting software that may affect the safe operation of a vehicle. The maximum penalty cited by Yonhap, JoongAng, Herald Business and Seoul Economic Daily is up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won (about $15,000 in the English-language Korean press conversions).
On safety, police warned — in wording carried by Yonhap and JoongAng — that when the feature is enabled through an unauthorized method, the car may fail to recognize driving conditions properly or behave differently from the driver’s intent. Yonhap News TV also quotes an academic expert who notes that software that does not go through the manufacturer’s official process can malfunction.
For readers: FSD Supervised (gradually rebranded in Europe toward Tesla Assisted Driving) remains a driver-assistance system that requires the driver to supervise. It is not Level 4/5 “driverless” autonomy. In Korea, this case is not about marketing names; it is about who may activate the feature on which car and about unauthorized changes to vehicle software.
What it means for drivers
- Korean law does not apply in Romania. This file is about the Motor Vehicle Management Act and local certification. A driver in Romania or the EU looks at European type approval, national traffic rules and what Tesla officially offers on their market — not at Seoul penalties.
- In the EU, the path is different. Tesla Assisted Driving / FSD Supervised goes through type approval and country recognition, not through aftermarket unlock devices. See our FSD Europe and Romania guide and who decides on Assisted Driving locally.
- “Jailbreaking” driver-assistance software is a criminal matter on paper in Korea. Even where other markets treat similar behavior mainly as a warranty or terms-of-service issue (plus remote disable), Korean police and the transport ministry framed it as an illegal change to safety-relevant software.
- It is not worth the risk. The devices in the investigation are not an “official upgrade.” Police say they confirmed risks of misreading the road and unexpected behavior. Tesla Korea could already cut some activations remotely.
In short: in Seoul, dozens of cases went to prosecutors over FSD unlocked the wrong way, against a clear rule — legal FSD only on part of the Tesla fleet — and after a MOLIT referral. For drivers in Romania, the useful takeaway is not “how to do it”: the legal path is homologation and Tesla’s official offer on your market, and Korea is a reminder that authorities can treat unauthorized software changes as a road-safety issue, not only a service-contract dispute.
