A South Korean consumer group is asking regulators to stop Tesla from marketing “Full Self-Driving” to customers whose cars can’t legally run it. By Tesla’s own numbers, that covers 99% of the Teslas it sold in Korea last year.
📌 The Core Development
Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty plans to file the complaint with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) on Thursday, according to Reuters, which reviewed it. It comes just a week after a Seoul court threw out a refund lawsuit from Korean owners who paid for FSD.
It all comes down to where the car was built. The Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck come from US factories and enter Korea under the KORUS free trade agreement, which recognizes US safety standards. Those are the only Teslas that got “FSD (Supervised)” when Tesla switched it on in Korea late last year.
🔍 Background & Sector Context
The problem is that those don’t represent the vast majority of Tesla vehicles sold in Korea.
The Model 3 and Model Y sold in Korea come from Giga Shanghai. There’s no equivalent deal with China, so those cars need Korean approval that FSD doesn’t have.
📊 Industry & Real-World Impact
And that’s most of the fleet. Tesla Korea country manager Seo Young-deuk told lawmakers last month that FSD works on about 20% of Teslas registered in the country. Tesla has sold more than 170,000 Shanghai-built vehicles in Korea since 2023, per data it handed to the National Assembly, and sales of those China-made cars grew more than fivefold between 2023 and 2025.
Benchmark Telemetry & EV Fuel Savings
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🔮 Strategic Outlook & What Lies Ahead
Seo’s figure also clears up the conflicting eligibility numbers we flagged when Korean police booked 80 Tesla drivers for using illegal FSD unlock devices last month. A lawmaker’s data from May put it at 2.4%, while a data firm counted 20.7% in August. Tesla’s own testimony matches the higher one.
For years, Tesla charged Korean buyers a one-time 9.043 million won (about $6,726) for FSD. It moved to a 150,000 won ($112) monthly subscription in August.
