Gwangju City, Public Unmanned Special Vehicle Autonomous Driving...Nation's First

Mayor Lee Yong-seop: "Leap to a Leading City in Future-Oriented Automotive Industry Ecosystem"

On the morning of the 17th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the "Gwangju Unmanned Low-Speed Special Vehicle Regulatory Free Zone Project" held at the Citizen's Forest of the City Hall. Afterward, he received explanations about the special vehicles and street sweepers displayed in the plaza of the city hall and observed their demonstrations. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] In Gwangju Metropolitan City, autonomous unmanned low-speed special vehicles in the public service sector will operate for the first time nationwide.

On the morning of the 17th, Gwangju Metropolitan City and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups held a demonstration launch ceremony for the ‘Gwangju Unmanned Low-Speed Special Vehicle Regulatory Free Zone Project’ at City Hall and officially began the demonstration.

This demonstration involves testing unmanned special vehicles for public services and collecting and sharing public information data.

Notably, while domestic autonomous driving has so far required a driver onboard, the Gwangju Regulatory Free Zone Project is the first in the country to operate autonomously without a driver.

In December 2019, Gwangju was designated as a regulatory free zone covering 16.79㎢ across seven areas including Pyeongdong Industrial Complex, Hanam and Jingok Industrial Complexes, Suwan District, Uchi Park, Bitgreen Industrial Complex, and Songjeong Park. Last July, it signed an MOU with the project operator and began full-scale operations.

Within the Gwangju Regulatory Free Zone, regulatory exemptions allow unmanned low-speed special vehicles to be temporarily permitted for road operation, road driving, and access to urban parks within a safety-assured scope.

Accordingly, Gwangju City obtained temporary operation permits from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 29th of last month after meeting performance tests applying these exemptions for street cleaning vehicles and industrial complex waste collection vehicles.

The unmanned low-speed special vehicle demonstration will be conducted around Pyeongdong Station in the Pyeongdong Industrial Complex, Seongdeok Park and Goraesil Park in the Suwan District, and Uchi Park.

Simultaneously, the control center will monitor the unmanned special vehicles’ driving status in real time and respond via remote control in case of abnormalities. Collected video information will undergo personal data anonymization and be provided to institutions and companies that require it through an edge-type public information data collection and sharing demonstration.

For safety, the demonstration vehicles will operate at low speeds of 5 to 7 km/h, avoiding rush hours and lunch times, running from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. when traffic is light. However, at Uchi Park, operations will be conducted from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. to avoid park opening hours.

In this regard, Gwangju City plans to cooperate with citizens to have vehicles parked along the demonstration routes moved during demonstration hours.

The Gwangju unmanned special vehicle zone is expected to improve the harsh working conditions of sanitation workers, such as early morning traffic accidents, and enhance work efficiency by alleviating simple repetitive tasks through this demonstration.

From an industrial perspective, it is anticipated that an industrial ecosystem for future autonomous driving will be established, promoting the localization of core autonomous driving components such as radar and lidar, and accelerating the development and commercialization of autonomous driving system technologies linked to Gwangju’s special vehicle industry.

Yoon Hong-sik, CEO of AM Special Vehicles Co., Ltd., said, “We will actively promote the unmanned special vehicle business not only to domestic local governments but also to overseas buyers such as Spain, expanding the scope of the business and fostering innovative growth in the regional industry.”

Mayor Lee Yong-seop stated, “Gwangju has been striving to discover future growth engines and proactively respond to changes in the industrial landscape in preparation for the 4th Industrial Revolution. This demonstration provides a foundation for Gwangju to leap forward as a leading city in the future automotive industry ecosystem, including autonomous vehicles.”

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