Seoul police book 80 Tesla drivers over illegal FSD unlock devices
Seoul police booked 80 drivers and seized 21 devices used to switch on FSD in cars not approved for it in Korea — the largest crackdown yet on FSD "jailbreak" hardware.
Per Electrek, the suspects imported unlock modules from Europe and China or built their own; one IT worker built a device from information on GitHub. They also traded tips online on unlocking FSD and on keeping the car from logging that it had been activated.
Charges fall under Korea's Motor Vehicle Management Act, which bans unauthorized software changes that affect safety, with penalties of up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won. The transport ministry asked police to investigate in April after spotting signs of unauthorized activation, and a police official said "safety risks were confirmed." The investigation is ongoing.
Context: Tesla launched FSD (Supervised) in Korea late last year, but only for US-built Model S, Model X and Cybertruck, which are exempt from Korean safety certification under the Korea-US FTA. Shanghai-built Model 3 and Model Y have not cleared Korea's standards. Since April Tesla has remotely detected the devices and removed FSD, warning owners they would bear full liability for crashes and could lose warranty coverage.
Eligible-fleet estimates differ widely: Carisyou counts 47,458 of 229,311 Teslas (20.7%) as of August, while government data from May shows 4,292 of 180,684 (2.4%). Electrek argues that selling a feature owners cannot legally use creates demand for jailbreaks, and asks whether Tesla will refund Korean buyers.
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