National Policy Planning Committee: "Drone Development Policies Should Focus on Logistics, Aviation, Firefighting, and Agriculture"

National Policy Planning Committee On-site Roundtable
UAM: Need to Increase Vertiports Centered Around Major Hubs

Yonhap News Agency

The National Policy Planning Committee, which is serving as the transition team for the Lee Jaemyung administration, held an on-site roundtable regarding drone industry development policies and reached a consensus that it is necessary to focus on sectors with high utilization and impact in Korea, such as logistics, aviation, firefighting, and agriculture. The committee also agreed on the need to increase the number of vertical take-off and landing pads (vertiports) for urban air mobility (UAM) centered around major hubs.

On June 26, members of the Economic Subcommittee 2 of the National Policy Planning Committee, officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and private sector experts held a roundtable at the Incheon Drone Flight Test and Certification Center and the UAM vertiport. Lee Junghun, chair of the Land, SOC, and Regional Subcommittee of Economic Subcommittee 2, stated, "The government will work with the private sector to create an environment in which the drone and UAM industries can thrive."

The National Policy Planning Committee evaluated the drone industry as "emerging as a strategic industry that can influence not only new industries but also national security, safety, industrial competitiveness, and future transportation systems amid rapidly changing global circumstances, including the recent war between Russia and Ukraine." The committee further assessed that "drones are increasingly becoming game changers in a variety of fields, including not only national defense but also logistics and disaster response."

Additionally, the committee stated, "UAM is a future mobility solution that will reinvent time and space, and as a high value-added future industry that integrates manufacturing, construction, and services, it is facing fierce competition among governments and companies worldwide. Therefore, an institutional foundation is needed to secure leadership in this field."