'Autonomous Unmanned Post Office' Replacing Postal Workers... Commercialization Scheduled for Next Year

Ujeong Business Headquarters to Demonstrate at Seoul National University on the 19th Afternoon

Seung-hyun Son, Head of the Korea Post Headquarters, is receiving parcel mail inside an autonomous unmanned post office vehicle at Seoul National University on the 19th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Services that collect and deliver mail using autonomous unmanned vehicles within specific areas such as university campuses, research complexes, and apartment complexes are expected to be commercialized soon.

The Ministry of Science and ICT's Postal Service Headquarters announced this on the afternoon of the 19th at a demonstration event for the autonomous unmanned post office pilot project held at Seoul National University campus. The autonomous unmanned post office is an advanced unmanned mail reception and delivery service that delivers campus mail without postal worker assistance and operates at times requested by users.

The Postal Service Headquarters has invested approximately 16 billion KRW of national funds over three years since April 2020 to develop core technologies and pilot services for an advanced autonomous unmanned reception and delivery service using ICT new technologies such as 5G, data, and artificial intelligence (AI), and plans to commercialize it starting next year. The pilot operations will first be conducted at Seoul National University Gwanak Campus, Korea University Sejong Campus, and the Korea Military Academy.

At the event, a process was demonstrated where mail is collected from an unmanned mail reception machine installed in a domestically produced autonomous vehicle (Hyundai Motor Solati) and the autonomous vehicle delivers the mail collectively around apartment buildings without postal worker assistance. Mail reception is completed when customers pre-register their mail through the post office app, scan the issued reception barcode at the kiosk, and place the mail in the opened storage compartment. Afterwards, recipients can receive their mail by entering the authentication code at the unmanned post office kiosk, referring to the vehicle arrival time and authentication code provided in the app; the unmanned storage compartment then automatically opens.

The Postal Service Headquarters plans to expand the autonomous unmanned post office service in the future by linking it with next-generation intelligent transportation systems (C-ITS) targeting suburban autonomous driving pilot zones, apartment complexes, and public institutions.

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