Gimhae-si and City Council Join Forces to Revitalize Drone Industry

Aerial view of the drone training ground in Gimhae-si, Gyeongnam. [Image source: Gimhae-si]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] Gimhae City and the City Council in Gyeongnam are continuing their perfect cooperation to revitalize the drone industry, a future growth engine.

According to the city on the 13th, in consultation with the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, the practical test site for the national certification of ultralight flying devices (drones) has been moved from Hwapocheon Sports Park in Hallim-myeon to a better environment at the Gimhae City Drone Practice Field in Masa-ri, Saengnim-myeon. Since April 16, tests have been conducted twice a week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The drone practice field in Saengnim-myeon covers an area of 9,900㎡, which is 1.4 times the size of a soccer field. The city has separately established a drone sports practice field (racing drone practice field 9,900㎡, drone soccer field 128㎡) here to provide a safe and systematic training environment for local drone sports teams and talents.

Going forward, the city plans to develop more professional and diverse drone experience programs through collaboration with drone sports teams and offer them to citizens.

The City Council recently amended the ‘Gimhae City Drone Practice Field Operation and Management Ordinance’ to support the city’s efforts to promote drones.

The ordinance amendment, jointly proposed by 15 members including Councilor Lee Kwang-hee, provides a legal basis for the operation of a permanent practical test site and drone sports practice field within the drone practice field, focusing on strengthening the professionalism of drone experience programs.

The main contents include restrictions on drone specifications (maximum takeoff weight under 250g) for those without drone certification within the drone practice field, limitations on commercial product display and sales, and the collection of usage fees for the drone practice field facilities and material costs within actual expenses for experience programs.

A Gimhae City official said, “The drone industry has very diverse application fields such as agriculture, manufacturing, and culture, and will play a significant role in the recently emerging non-face-to-face industry growth. We expect that operating the practical test site and establishing the drone sports practice field will contribute to the development of new industries in Gimhae City.”

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