Yeosu City Selected in Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's 'Drone Demonstration City Construction' Contest

Drone Delivery Service for Island Areas 'Baroga-Do (島)' Launched

Expecting Drone Mobility Industry Leap Connecting Islands and Sea

Yeosu City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Jeong Gi-myeong) announced that it has been finally selected for the 'Drone Demonstration City Construction Contest Project' hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Aviation Safety Technology Institute.

The 'Drone Demonstration City Contest Project' is a project that discovers industrial drone utilization models suitable for the characteristics of cities and counties, receives national funding, and promotes research and demonstration.

[Photo provided by Yeosu City]

The city will promote ‘Baroga-Do (島)’, a circular drone delivery service connecting islands and the mainland, to provide logistics convenience to island areas vulnerable to delivery and to accelerate the early commercialization of drones.

The project period is from April to November this year, with a total investment of about 1.1 billion KRW including 700 million KRW in national funding. Haeyang Drone Technology Co., Mujigae Research Institute, and Skyports-k, a specialized company leading UAM in the UK with its headquarters in Yeosu, will participate.

‘Baroga-Do (島)’ is a service that establishes a logistics hub equipped with a comprehensive drone control system, drone maintenance shop, and logistics storage at the support facility for the 2026 World Island Expo on Gaedo Island, Hwajeong-myeon, and delivers medicines, specialty products, etc., weighing up to 8 kg to logistics branches in Gudeok Waterfront Park in Gukdong, Geumo Island in Nam-myeon, and Songdo in Dolsan-eup.

To this end, the city recently completed consultations with major demand sources such as island fishing cooperatives, post offices, agricultural cooperatives, and tourist hotels.

Mayor Jeong Gi-myeong of Yeosu said, “There is still a long way to go, including the designation of a drone special free zone, development of UAM routes, and fostering of drone industry manpower,” adding, “We will do our best to create a ‘Drone Mobility Leading City’ in the 4th industrial era through generous support for the revitalization of our city’s drone industry.”

Yeosu = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Choi Cheol-hoon hss79@asiae.co.kr