"Future Mobility Industry Requires Proactive National-Level Response"

Automobile Industry Association Holds Automobile Industry Development Forum

Jeong Manki, President of the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association. / Photo by Jang Jinhyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The need for proactive national-level measures to secure the competitiveness of our companies in the future automobile industry has been emphasized once again. In particular, as the future automobile industry is rapidly evolving around intelligence, electrification, high-speed, individualization, and integration, urgent countermeasures are required.

The Korea Automobile Industry Association (KAIA) held the 26th Automobile Industry Development Forum both online and offline on the 13th at the Grandeur Ballroom of the Automobile Hall under the theme "Future Mobility and Our Tasks." This forum was held in conjunction with the first KAIA Automobile Week event, coinciding with "Automobile Day" on the 15th.

In his opening remarks, KAIA Chairman Manki Chung stated, "Recently, mobility has centered on integrating IT technology with transportation hardware to help find and use the optimal means and routes from the starting point to the destination," adding, "Globally, mobility is spreading not only electrification and high-speed but also intelligence, individualization, and integration among transportation modes through IT technology integration, making proactive national-level responses necessary."

He continued, "While our electrification is developing to a world-class level, intelligence, high-speed, and individualization are lagging," and suggested, "It is necessary to promote bold regulatory reforms to build extensive testbeds for accumulating large-scale autonomous driving data and to activate startups related to shared vehicle services and Mobility as a Service (MaaS)."

Kim Youngguk, a research fellow at the Future Vehicle Research Center of the Korea Transport Institute, in his keynote presentation on future transportation infrastructure, said, "If the driving entity shifts from humans to autonomous driving systems, transportation infrastructure will no longer need to be based on humans, so it should transition from analog information in visual forms to facilities based on digital information." He added, "In the future, multi-layered, three-dimensional transportation infrastructure will expand, so vertical movement facilities for connection or transfer between different modes on each layer need to be expanded, especially in urban centers where additional road space is difficult to secure."

He also argued, "The transition to future mobility must be pursued integrally with automation, decarbonization, sharing, and integration," emphasizing, "For this, social consensus, education, and support among stakeholders including transportation, maintenance, and refueling industries are necessary."

Cheon Seohyeong, a research fellow at LG Management Research Institute, cited examples such as the GM Cruise autonomous vehicle in the U.S. ignoring police stop orders and continuing to drive, and another autonomous vehicle blocking a fire truck, delaying fire suppression. He stated, "Continuous monitoring and various protocols for emergency situations during autonomous vehicle operation must be established," and added, "In Korea, expanding various demonstration projects is necessary to verify the consistency of autonomous vehicle paid service revenue models."

Kim Jihyuk, director at City Labs, pointed out, "In Jeju Island, as the proportion of electric vehicles (EVs) increases, the refueling industry is declining, but charging difficulties are intensifying. Although renewable energy production has expanded, the rate of unused energy is increasing."

He proposed conducting demonstration projects by building a MaaS platform that enables eco-friendly mobility sharing and charging services at gas stations, convenience stores, and marts, and facilitates transfers and connections between shared mobility and public transportation near bus stops. He mentioned, "Support is needed at the national level, including recognition of sunk costs required to build a digital environment, and social awareness of data assets must be improved."

Lee Jinho, a researcher at the HyperTube Research Lab of the Korea Railroad Research Institute, said, "The Railroad Research Institute is developing a HyperTube that combines an ultra-high vacuum tube and magnetic levitation technology, aiming to travel between Seoul and Busan in about 20 minutes at speeds up to 1,200 km/h." He added, "In 2020, the institute succeeded in achieving the world’s highest speed of 1,019 km/h with a scaled-down model of the ultra-high vacuum tube, and from 2024, it plans to launch a national R&D project involving private companies to develop core source technologies for the HyperTube."

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