South Korea moves against Tesla owners who unlocked restricted Full Self-Driving
The case turns on a regional software lock, and the legal penalties reach as far as prison terms for owners who used imported hardware.
South Korean police have identified 80 Tesla owners accused of using hardware modules to switch on Full Self-Driving in vehicles that were not cleared for it locally, and have seized 21 of the devices. The modules tap the car's internal network to bypass the regional software lock, which works because Tesla installs the same computer in every car. Prosecutors are relying on a motor vehicle law that prohibits unapproved software changes affecting safety, and the penalty ceiling is a prison term of up to two years or a fine of roughly 20 million won, about $15,000. The probe began after the transport ministry flagged the activations in April, and Tesla has responded by remotely disabling FSD on affected cars and warning that such modifications can void warranties. The underlying issue is that Tesla's FSD (Supervised) launched in South Korea in late 2025 only for US-built Model S, Model X and Cybertruck units, while the Shanghai-built Model 3 and Model Y have not passed local certification.
Why it matters
For Tesla owners in South Korea, the feature they tried to switch on is one the company has not cleared for their cars, and using devices to override that restriction now carries criminal exposure rather than only a warranty risk. The case also shows that software limits placed on a single global car design can be enforced by national regulators, with prosecutors treating unapproved safety-related changes as a matter for the criminal law.
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