Hong Nam-ki: "1.1 Trillion Won Invested in Level 4 Autonomous Driving Core Technologies... Focused Support for Commercialization" (Comprehensive)

3rd Innovation Growth Big 3 Promotion Meeting

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporters Son Seon-hee and Jang Se-hee] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, announced on the 21st, "We will focus on supporting commercialization by investing 1.1 trillion won in core technologies for Level 4 autonomous driving."

On the same day, Hong held the '3rd Innovation Growth Big 3 Promotion Meeting' at the Government Seoul Office and stated, "This year, global automakers are expected to launch passenger cars equipped with Level 3 autonomous driving technology, and competition for developing Level 4 autonomous driving will intensify."

The government plans to localize nine key components responsible for important autonomous driving functions and promote subsequent commercialization. Additionally, facilities to reproduce harsh environments for performance testing of Level 4 and above, as well as regional test beds, will be established within this year.

Efforts will also be made to build an integrated management center for the next-generation Cooperative Intelligent Transport System (C-ITS), establish safety standards and insurance systems necessary for the launch of Level 4 autonomous vehicles, and supplement autonomous driving data dams. Furthermore, seven public autonomous driving services will be developed, including AI learning and source data provision through the AI Hub, mobility support for vulnerable groups, and autonomous shared vehicles.

Regarding the system semiconductor sector, the government will support the training of about 3,600 core personnel, including approximately 1,000 master's and doctoral-level talents, over this year and next. This is a concrete step toward the plan announced in April 2019 to train 17,000 system semiconductor experts by 2030.

Additionally, measures to promote the development of new medical products focused on public health crisis response were discussed. Based on experiences responding to COVID-19, specific plans were prepared to expedite the development, approval, and production processes of medical products as much as possible.

The government will integrate research and development (R&D) projects in the medical product field and shorten the approval review period for health crisis response medical products from the existing 180 days to within 40 days, and shipment approval from 90 days to within 20 days. Moreover, 32 smart factories in the pharmaceutical sector will be established within this year to expand the domestic pharmaceutical and bio production base.

Private sector experts, including Kim Se-hoon, Vice President of Hyundai Motor Company; Heo Yeom, CEO of Silicon Mites; Kim Jae-seop, CEO of Aprogen; and Lee Ji-hyo, co-CEO of Pado, also attended the meeting.