Three Cases Including K-City Selected as 'Korean New Deal of the Month' for October

Yeonggwang Wind Power, selected as the Korean New Deal of the Month for October.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The government announced on the 12th that, in a joint effort by related ministries, three cases?Automobile Safety Research Institute K-City, Oyster Able, and Yeonggwang Wind Power?were selected as the ‘Korean New Deal of the Month’ for October.

The Automobile Safety Research Institute K-City is Korea’s first autonomous driving test complex where various response capabilities of self-driving cars, which recognize the surrounding environment and operate without driver intervention until reaching their destination, are tested and improved by identifying issues. It was established on December 10, 2018, by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport within the Automobile Safety Research Institute’s driving test site, covering an area of 320,000㎡. To test vehicle responses in various situations that may occur during autonomous driving, it replicates five actual road environments (expressways, urban areas, community areas, suburban roads, and autonomous parking facilities).

So far, a total of 108 institutions have participated in autonomous vehicle experiments, with 2,354 trials conducted. K-City plans to upgrade its facilities and equipment to commercialize technology beyond level 5 by advancing the test site. Additionally, it will establish an Innovation Growth Support Center to enable startup companies and financially vulnerable firms to conduct mid- to long-term research and development and use the space for entrepreneurship.

Oyster Able is a social venture that developed an Internet of Things (IoT) separated waste collection box and, linked to this, provides points to consumers participating in recycling to promote a shift in awareness toward resource circulation. When transparent PET bottles are placed in the collection box, points are accumulated in Oyster Able’s ‘Today’s Recycling’ application, and consumers can use these points to purchase food and beverages or donate to resource circulation support projects. Furthermore, through the Korea Data Industry Promotion Agency’s data usage voucher support project, Oyster Able has enabled resource recycling information to be utilized as special data in the market. This involves processing recycling data?such as which products were discarded in which regions and which products sell well?into marketing data like consumer tendencies and providing it to companies. As a result, consumers participating in separated waste disposal receive points from companies, and companies can use this data for marketing, achieving a win-win effect.

The cumulative number of users of the separated waste collection boxes is about 40,000, with a monthly recycling collection volume of approximately 3.9 tons, and the monthly point payout to users is about 50 million KRW, indicating high popularity. Besides the fun element of accumulating points that can be used like cash by properly disposing of waste, the satisfaction of contributing to environmental protection has led to a collection rate 25 times higher than general disposal.

Yeonggwang Wind Power is Korea’s first hybrid wind power complex combining onshore and offshore wind power and a future-oriented win-win model that simultaneously produces agricultural products and eco-friendly electricity. Moving away from the conventional method of installing wind turbines on mountains and seas, turbines are installed on cultivated farmland to enable simultaneous crop cultivation and power generation. Residents provide part of their farmland as power generation sites, earning rental income. When combining farming and wind power, the expected annual income for farms is about 7.7 times higher.

In addition to increasing farm income, Yeonggwang Wind Power has focused on coexistence with the local community through job creation and economic revitalization. Local talent was given priority in hiring for power plant construction and operation, and local companies were entrusted with construction work. Moreover, a portion of the power generated at the wind farm (1 KRW/kWh) is accumulated as a community contribution fund during the facility’s operation period to share benefits with residents around the power plant.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Noh Hyung-wook, representing the government, presented commemorative plaques at 11:10 a.m. on the same day at the Land Development Exhibition Hall (Jeongdong, Seoul) to the Automobile Safety Research Institute K-City, Oyster Able, and Yeonggwang Wind Power, which were selected as the ‘Korean New Deal of the Month.’

Minister Noh said, “The awardees today have shown excellent examples of the ‘Korean New Deal’ that brighten Korea’s future through innovative thinking and bold challenges in the green and digital sectors. The government will continue to do its best to support the emergence of excellent cases of the ‘Korean New Deal’ from the private sector.”

Meanwhile, the ‘Korean New Deal of the Month,’ selected and announced monthly since March, targets ▲ individuals or companies directly carrying out or producing results from Korean New Deal projects ▲ individuals or companies benefiting from Korean New Deal projects ▲ symbolic places of the Korean New Deal. Candidates are recommended by central administrative agencies promoting the Korean New Deal and selected through strict evaluation by a screening committee.

A total of six institutions participated in recommending candidates for the October ‘Korean New Deal of the Month,’ and 14 judges from various fields, including broadcast writer Lee Eon-ju (You Quiz on the Block), Professor Lee Jong-hyuk of Kwangwoon University, blacksmith Seok No-gi (Yeongju Blacksmith), poet Kim Ju-dae, research fellow Lee Chang-hoon of the Korea Environment Institute, and director Oh Sang-bong of the Korea Labor Institute Research Center, were responsible for the evaluation.

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