Ulju-gun Designated as Drone Special Free Zone for 2 Consecutive Times... Total Area 53%

Ulju-gun, Ulsan has been selected for the ‘2nd Drone Special Free Zone’ announced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The Drone Special Free Zone designated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is a regulatory free zone that supports the demonstration of drone utilization service models in urban areas to foster and revitalize the drone industry, exempting or simplifying various regulations. Ulju-gun has been preparing for the 2nd designation following the 1st designation in 2021.

Previously, in September last year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport conducted the 2nd nationwide public contest for drone special free zones targeting local governments. The Aviation Safety Technology Institute, an affiliated organization of the Ministry, selected a total of 23 local governments including Ulju-gun through document review, airspace review by the Ministry of National Defense, presentation evaluation, and working-level council.

The 2nd designated area of the Ulju-gun drone special zone covers a total of 407㎢, including Zone 1 with 172㎢ and Zone 2 with 235㎢, accounting for 53% of the total area of Ulju-gun. The designation period is two years from June this year to June 2025.

With the designation, special airworthiness certification, test flight permits, safety certification, flight approval, special flight approval, and radio compatibility evaluation will be exempted or simplified during the permit process.

A total of 2.1 billion KRW will be invested over two years, with 1.05 billion KRW annually, to promote commercialization of urban air mobility, safe city, smart farming, and smart services.

The Ulsan Information Industry Promotion Agency, which operates the drone special free zone, and 12 participating organizations will conduct the demonstrations.

The participating organizations include ▲Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology ▲SK Telecom ▲Narma ▲Gaion ▲Mujigae Research Institute ▲Aero Research ▲Skysis ▲Ulsan Unmanned Aviation Education Center ▲AMP ▲Prenew ▲Vololand ▲Clover Studio, with the Ulsan Information Industry Promotion Agency overseeing operation and management.

Ulju-gun Drone Special Free Zone.

The demonstration will be conducted in a total of 16 projects across 4 sectors, with detailed fields including ▲urban air mobility (PAV development and demonstration, drone control center advancement, long-distance and high-altitude cargo delivery) ▲safe city (road damage monitoring, urban landscape recording, illegal drone detection and jamming, integrated defense, wildfire surveillance and safety monitoring).

Additionally, commercialization plans include ▲smart farming (drone pilot qualification training, open-field smart farm) ▲smart services (mountain rescue, urban management, crop diagnosis, crime prevention, radiation measurement services).

Ulju-gun, which aims to be a drone standard city, introduced drones in 2015 and initiated drone industry development by enacting the ‘Drone Industry Promotion and Support Ordinance’ in 2020.

In 2021, along with the 1st designation of the drone special free zone, it achieved results such as selection for the drone demonstration city construction project, establishment of a new growth industry team, and construction of an integrated drone control center.

Last year, it was selected for the small and medium-sized city smart city creation project, established the drone industry promotion committee, and formulated the basic plan for drone industry promotion.

This year, various projects have been linked and implemented, including selection for the drone demonstration city construction project, purchase-conditional new product development project, and drone delivery point construction project. It also plans to foster the drone industry and build an ecosystem through drone light shows and drone experience events linked to festivals, and the creation of a drone theme park.

County Governor Lee Soon-geol said, “Being designated as a drone special free zone for the second consecutive time is the result of our steady efforts toward making Ulju a drone standard city.” He added, “Ulju-gun will continue to lead the future drone industry as a leading drone city representing the Republic of Korea.”

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