[Regulatory Republic] "In the era of autonomous flying drones... Government focuses on tightening regulations"

Amazon's drone delivery service 'Amazon Prime Air'

"The era of autonomous drones that no longer require pilots has arrived, but the government is moving towards strengthening drone pilot certification."

ThisIsEngineering, a drone and robotics specialized company, is a startup developing drone delivery services and flying cars based on autonomous flight technology. Hong Yujeong, CEO of ThisIsEngineering, said, "If pilot personnel are included in drone delivery services, the hourly labor cost reaches 300,000 to 400,000 KRW, making it impractical. We aim to implement efficient services based on autonomous flight," but added, "The government is enforcing policies to strengthen drone pilot certification, causing difficulties in testing and technology development."

The government's drone policy is focused only on preventing safety accidents and protecting personal information, which conflicts with the direction of advanced technology development for future industries.

Expansion of Reporting Scope and Differentiation of Pilot Qualifications Following the Revision of the Drone Classification System (Source: National Assembly Legislative Research Office)

The Aviation Safety Act Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules, implemented a year ago, classify drones into low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk categories, and apply differentiated reporting and pilot certification systems based on maximum takeoff weight divided into classes 1 to 4. Previously, only drones exceeding 12 kg of own weight excluding fuel weight, and not used for commercial purposes, were required to be reported, but with the amendment of the enforcement decree, all drones exceeding 2 kg of maximum takeoff weight are subject to reporting.

Also, while pilot certification was previously required only when operating commercial drones exceeding 12 kg of own weight, under the revised drone classification system, pilot certification must be obtained for all non-commercial drones except toys weighing 250 g or less.

In addition, drone flights are generally prohibited in certain no-fly zones such as parts of downtown Seoul airspace, controlled airspace (within a 9.3 km radius around airports), and flights above 150 meters altitude. To fly in no-fly zones, regardless of weight or flight purpose, flight approval must be obtained from the Regional Aviation Office or the Ministry of National Defense. Violations may result in fines up to 2 million KRW.

While the United States and China have already commercialized robot and drone delivery services, South Korea remains at the pilot test stage. Market research firm MarketandMarkets forecasts that the global drone delivery market size will exceed 39 billion USD (approximately 46 trillion KRW) by 2030.