33 Areas Including Incheon, Daejeon, and Jeju Designated as 'Drone Special Free Zones'

Exemption and Relaxation of Regulations Such as Pre-Flight Approval
Expected to Shorten Demonstration Period by Over 5 Months

Location Map of the Special Drone Deregulation Zone (Photo by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 10th that it will designate 33 zones in 15 local governments nationwide, including Ongjin-gun in Incheon, Pocheon-si in Gyeonggi-do, Seo-gu in Daejeon, Sejong, Buk-gu in Gwangju, Ulju-gun in Ulsan, and Jeju Island, as 'Drone Special Free Zones,' which are drone-exclusive regulatory special zones.

In the Drone Special Free Zones, regulations such as special airworthiness certification and safety certification that verify the safety of drone aircraft in advance, as well as prior flight approval applied during drone flights, will be exempted or relaxed, which is expected to shorten the demonstration period by more than five months.

A total of 33 local governments participated in the first Drone Special Free Zone contest held in July last year. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport selected 33 zones in 15 local governments through airspace consultations with the Ministry of National Defense and military units, on-site inspections, evaluations by private experts, and reviews by the Drone Industry Working Group.

The finally selected local governments are for ▲environmental monitoring (Jeju Island, Changwon in Gyeongnam, Taean in Chungnam) ▲drone traffic and logistics delivery (Ongjin in Incheon, Buk-gu in Gwangju, Goheung in Jeonnam) ▲facility inspection (Gimcheon in Gyeongbuk) ▲anti-drone (Asan in Chungnam) ▲disinfection (Wonju in Gangwon) ▲administrative safety and public services (Ulju in Ulsan, Sejong City, Seo-gu in Daejeon), among others.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to manage the zones safely by ensuring that even if flight-related regulations are exempted or relaxed in the Drone Special Free Zones, the Korea Aviation Safety Technology Institute will supervise and manage them, local governments will conduct thorough on-site supervision, and a cooperative accident response system will be established with the military, fire departments, and medical institutions.

The operation period is two years, and the period may be renewed if necessary after evaluating operational performance and the need for continued demonstration.

Kim Susang, Director of Aviation Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "We will do our best to enable our drone companies to enter the global drone market, which is expected to grow into a huge market in the future."

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