Driverless Autonomous Vehicles Are Running in South Korea Too

Temporary Operation Permit for Korea's First Passenger Unmanned Autonomous Vehicle
Full Unmanned Driving Allowed After Phased Verification

(Photo is unrelated to the article content) On the 27th, KT held a briefing session on the autonomous driving pilot project at the Smart City Integration Center in Dongan-gu, Anyang-si, showcasing a pilot operation of an autonomous driving bus. Through the monitor installed inside the autonomous driving bus 'Juyaro,' real-time displays of autonomous driving status and surrounding road conditions are shown.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 12th that it will permit temporary operation on public roads of unmanned autonomous vehicles developed by domestic autonomous driving startups to promote the development of unmanned autonomous driving technology.

Temporary operation permission is a system that allows the temporary operation of unregistered vehicles on roads. For autonomous vehicles, it permits road operation for the purpose of technology development.

The vehicle granted temporary operation permission is the first passenger unmanned autonomous vehicle in Korea (maximum speed 50 km/h), equipped with an autonomous driving system and LiDAR sensors on a domestically produced sports utility vehicle (SUV). Previously, autonomous vehicles granted temporary operation permission were either autonomous vehicles with a test driver seated in the driver's seat or unmanned autonomous vehicles operating at very low speeds (maximum speed of 10 km/h or less).

It is equipped with safety features such as emergency automatic braking and maximum speed limiters, as well as emergency stop buttons inside and outside the vehicle, and has completed all safety requirement verifications for unmanned autonomous driving within the urban area of Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, is the largest dedicated autonomous driving experimental city in Korea, equipped with customized testing and research facilities for autonomous vehicles.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will introduce a phased verification process within the operational area to ensure thorough safety management. If the vehicle granted temporary operation permission passes the verification process at once, unmanned autonomous driving could become possible as early as the beginning of the fourth quarter of this year.

For unmanned autonomous driving, it is necessary to pass an evaluation of driving performance, including whether any accidents occurred during test autonomous driving and the frequency of control authority transitions, as well as the requirements for unmanned autonomous driving.