2024 'Fully Autonomous Vehicle Insurance' Standards Established... 'New Industry Regulatory Reform Plan' to be Implemented Next Year

2021~2023 Plan Applied... Renewed Every 3 Years
R&D and Mobility Added to Regulatory Sandbox
Regulatory Innovation Roadmap Established for AI, Biohealth, Autonomous Ships, etc.
Tasks Identified Including Delivery Robot Elevator Access Allowed in 2022
'Level 3' Autonomous Vehicle Accident Investigation Committee Established

On-site inspection of autonomous vehicles. (Photo by Ministry of SMEs and Startups) [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government has decided to establish verification, insurance, and safety standards for fully autonomous vehicles within four years. Through this, it is expected that "a regulatory system for the commercialization of fully autonomous vehicles by 2027 can be proactively organized."

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun chaired the '119th Government Policy Coordination Meeting' at the Government Seoul Office on the 10th and announced that the government discussed and finalized the '1st New Industry Regulatory Innovation Measures' with these contents.

This is the first time a basic plan for regulatory reform centered on new industries such as non-face-to-face and green industries has been established. It will revise 67 regulations across 20 industries and strengthen the growth momentum of new industries.

Dedicated Regulatory Reform Plan for New Industries... Adding 'R&D, Mobility' to the Sandbox

Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun is speaking at the launch ceremony of the Regulatory Sandbox Private Reception Organization held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul, on May 12. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

First, the '1st Basic Plan for New Industry Regulatory Reform' will be prepared and applied from next year through 2023. Every three years, a basic plan for new industry regulatory reform will be established and reflected in the annual comprehensive regulatory reform plan for implementation.

For 'DNA' industries such as Data, Network, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), as well as new industries like non-face-to-face and green industries, 'challenging reform,' 'win-win reform,' and 'proactive reform' will be promoted.

In particular, under 'challenging reform,' the following will be pursued: ▲ adding research and development (R&D) and mobility to the regulatory sandbox field ▲ allowing additional extensions of the demonstration exemption period of '2+2' years on the premise of safety assurance ▲ regularizing temporary support organizations.

Through win-win reform, social consensus necessary for regulatory relaxation will be drawn out via one-step models and demonstration exemptions.

As part of proactive reform, new regulatory innovation roadmaps will be established for AI (this month), biohealth (next year), and autonomous ships (next year). Roadmaps for autonomous vehicles (next year), drones, eco-friendly vehicles, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), and robots (2022?2023) will be periodically redesigned.

Fully Autonomous Vehicle Insurance to be Established by 2024... Regulations to be Completely Overhauled

Successful intersection driving using only real-time traffic light signal information from autonomous vehicles. (Photo by Road Traffic Authority)

Sixty-seven regulations across five sectors including DNA, non-face-to-face, green, bio-medical industries, and smartification of foundational industries will be revised. Innovative systems will be applied according to the characteristics and conflict situations of each task to achieve results from the Korean New Deal.

The most notable major task is the plan to establish a fully autonomous vehicle insurance system by 2024. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the National Police Agency will take responsibility and carry this out as part of smartification of foundational industries.

Currently, preparations are underway to revise verification systems and insurance systems in anticipation of the commercialization of level 3 partial autonomous vehicles in 2022, and to proactively revise systems considering the commercialization of fully autonomous vehicles in 2027.

Going forward, the insurance system will be concretized. From 2021 to 2024, verification, insurance, and safety standards corresponding to the level of advanced autonomous driving technology will be established. Additionally, from 2022 to 2025, permission for the use of video devices during autonomous driving and exceptions to regulations on platooning will be newly introduced.

Other initiatives include ▲ allowing delivery robots to enter elevators and sidewalks in 2022 (led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and four other ministries) ▲ establishing drone delivery standards by 2024 (led by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and three other ministries) ▲ reviewing permission for electric vehicles to drive on vehicle-only roads in 2023 (led by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and two other ministries) ▲ permitting selection of genetic therapy research target disease items such as hereditary diseases (Ministry of Health and Welfare).

'Level 3' Autonomous Vehicle Commercialization Preparation with Accident Investigation Committee Establishment

The SsangYong Motor Tivoli Air autonomous vehicle. (Photo by SsangYong Motor)

The government announced that it has prepared the '6th New Industry Field Regulatory Innovation Measures' jointly with related ministries on this day. Over 120 private experts from the New Industry Regulatory Innovation Committee under the Regulatory Reform Committee, along with the Office for Government Policy Coordination and related ministries, addressed 31 issues for improvement.

The areas of improvement include hydrogen charging stations, autonomous vehicles, non-face-to-face education, and pharmaceuticals.

Representative cases include ▲ establishment of an autonomous vehicle accident investigation committee in preparation for level 3 commercialization last October (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) ▲ allowing driving of general passenger hydrogen vehicles without special training (Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; bus driver training remains) ▲ reviewing permission for development and sale of pharmaceutical products in jelly form such as vitamins and minerals (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety).

Two cases were completed through notification revisions and administrative measures, and the Office for Government Policy Coordination encourages prompt implementation by ministries and regularly monitors progress for the remaining 29 cases.

An official from the Office for Government Policy Coordination said, "We will work closely with the relevant ministries to swiftly implement these improvement tasks so that the public can feel the effects," adding, "We will continue to discover and improve new industry field difficulties."

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