Autonomous Driving Development Blocked by Regulations... "Negative Regulation Needed" [New Traffic Refugee Report] ⑭

The Future of Transportation in Seoul
A 3 to 4-Year Gap Behind the US and China
Restrictions on Collecting Sensitive Information
Liability and Insurance Systems Remain Unresolved
Intensive Investment Needed to Stay Competitive

A self-driving taxi about to depart from Baidu Autonomous Driving Test Site Apollo Park

Although future technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous driving are expected to transform the transportation systems of megacities, conditions in South Korea remain challenging. Experts explain that domestic regulations on personal information are hindering the development of autonomous driving. In order to build and analyze big data related to transportation using AI, it is necessary to collect information, but regulations on personal information are blocking this data collection.

Tesla has begun pilot operations of robotaxis in Austin, Texas, and Baidu, China's largest search engine, is operating unmanned autonomous vehicles in cities such as Wuhan. In South Korea, the technology remains at Level 3, where steering and speed are automated only in specific sections, and the driver must take control of the steering wheel when the system requests it. In contrast, Level 4, which allows vehicles to operate without a driver within designated areas because no intervention is required, is seeing significant progress toward commercialization in the United States and China, where key technologies are held. It is estimated that there is a gap of three to four years between leading countries in autonomous driving and South Korea. Kim Pilsoo, a professor at Daelim University’s Department of Future Automotive Studies, pointed out, "Although tests are being conducted in areas such as Gangnam in Seoul and Sejong, the collection and utilization of data remain insufficient."

According to the current "Act on Promotion and Support of Commercialization of Autonomous Vehicles (Autonomous Vehicle Act)," information collected during the operation of autonomous vehicles must be anonymized in order to be exempt from the application of other laws such as the Personal Information Protection Act. Since anonymizing information requires time and capital, this still acts as a hurdle to technological development. Lee Soyoung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, and others have proposed a partial amendment to the Autonomous Vehicle Act, but it is still pending in the National Assembly. This bill would grant special exceptions allowing manufacturers of autonomous vehicles to collect and utilize information containing images of specific individuals for the purpose of improving system performance and safety.

Responsibility for accidents involving autonomous vehicles and the insurance system are also issues that need to be resolved. Professor Kim stated, "Rather than focusing on assigning responsibility in the development of autonomous driving, we should introduce negative regulation (a system where all actions are permitted in principle except those explicitly prohibited) to eliminate risks such as accidents," adding, "It is also necessary to prepare concrete measures on how the insurance system should operate in the event of an accident."

There are also concerns about a lack of investment. While global big tech companies such as Waymo, Google's autonomous driving subsidiary, and Baidu are pouring in massive amounts of capital, domestic startups in autonomous driving, with the exception of large corporations, cannot compete in terms of investment. Waymo succeeded in raising 7.7 trillion won in investment last October. Tak Sehyun, a research fellow at the Korea Transport Institute, explained, "In the United States, private capital has been actively invested, and in China, the government has led investment efforts. In comparison, South Korea's investment is indeed lacking," adding, "Even now, we must try to catch up by discovering and supporting companies capable of commercializing autonomous driving, and consider introducing the technology first in areas with high demand such as suburban or rural regions."