Jeju Island Designated as Autonomous Vehicle Pilot Zone by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Government Building

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters (Jeju) Reporter Park Chang-won] Jeju Special Self-Governing Province announced on the 24th that the Jeju International Airport-Jungmun Tourist Complex (Pyeonghwaro) section has been designated as an autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone.

Jeju Province has been promoting the designation of an autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone as part of the project to create an electric vehicle-based autonomous driving service platform city, in order to proactively respond to the government's future automobile industry development strategy, discover new future industries in the Jeju region, and expand new market channels.

In July, three zones were applied for the autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone designation project promoted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and preliminary evaluations and deliberations were conducted by the Ministry and the working committee.

The zones applied for by Jeju Province are ▲ Zone 1: Jeju International Airport-Jungmun Tourist Complex (Pyeonghwaro) section ▲ Zone 2: Advanced Science and Technology Complex-Jeju National University-Jeju International University section ▲ Zone 3: Haenyeo Museum-Haenyeo Diving Village (Haemaji Coastal Road) section.

As a result of the deliberation, Zone 1 passed with a favorable opinion and was finally approved at the autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone designation review committee on the 20th.

The designated autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone covers a 38.7 km section connecting Jeju International Airport through Doryeong-ro, Nohyeong-ro, and Pyeonghwaro to Hanchang-ro and Jungmun Tourist Complex, as well as an approximately 3 km² area within the Jungmun Tourist Complex.

The Jeju Airport-Jungmun Tourist Complex pilot operation zone is expected to have high demand from autonomous vehicle service providers due to Jeju Province’s intelligent road traffic infrastructure base (C-ITS, next-generation intelligent transportation system), various road and weather test conditions, promotional advantages utilizing the characteristics of a world-class tourist destination, and sustainable passenger service demand.

Currently, the domestic autonomous vehicle technology level is about 80% compared to leading countries (Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, 2018), and securing domestic technological competitiveness before the entry of foreign companies is urgent.

Jeju Province is evaluated to have optimal conditions to secure autonomous driving technology centered on domestic startups and to serve as a testbed for this purpose.

Following the designation of the autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone, Jeju Province will form a safety management committee to verify the safety operation design areas of autonomous driving service operating demand companies and review the suitability of paid service operations, issuing special regulatory exemption licenses for autonomous driving pilot operation.

First, a safety management committee consisting of the supervising institution, related organizations, and private members will be formed to verify the overall operation of autonomous vehicles by service operating demand companies, review suitability, and conduct paid passenger transport permission, automobile safety standard exemptions, and other regulatory special permits in the designated zone to demonstrate paid transport services under the “Autonomous Vehicle Act.”

Additionally, a demand-responsive smart limousine shuttle service will be operated as a paid transport service with 5 vehicles in the first year and up to 30 vehicles in the second year within the autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone.

Service operation is expected to begin in the second half of next year.

Jeju Province also plans to promote the additional designation and expansion of the autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone for the Advanced Science and Technology Complex zone, which was not approved in this review.

Yoon Hyung-seok, Director of the Future Strategy Bureau of Jeju Province, said, “To build an autonomous vehicle service platform city, we will proactively lead the development of the autonomous vehicle regional industry and the training of specialized personnel by attracting leading autonomous vehicle institutions and professional industries.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.