K-City Reborn as an Autonomous Driving Demonstration Platform... Completion of Phase 3

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on November 5 that it has completed the third phase of the advanced development project for K-City, the Korea Automobile Testing & Research Institute’s autonomous vehicle testbed.

K-City, which opened in 2018, was established to repeatedly and safely verify autonomous driving technologies under conditions similar to real road environments. From the following year until 2022, the second phase of the project focused on creating harsh environments and expanding research support facilities. In this third phase, the project was completed by adding multi-level roads such as ramps and installing facilities to replicate situations like traffic congestion and vehicle merging. The Ministry expects K-City to serve as an integrated demonstration platform, as it is now equipped with a virtual environment-based autonomous driving simulation system and an integrated control system.

The Automobile Cybersecurity Center has also opened. This national-level facility is designed to provide constant response to various cyber threats, including automobile hacking. It will oversee the operation, certification, and evaluation of the automobile cybersecurity management system, which has been in effect since August this year. The center is equipped with a manufacturer certification and management system, a cyber threat monitoring system, and a real-vehicle-based security evaluation system.

The completion ceremony, scheduled for November 6, will be attended by Assembly members Song Okjoo and Lee Junseok, whose constituencies are in the area, as well as Yoo Junghoon, President of the Korean Society of Transportation, and Hwang Sungho, President of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers. Minister Kim is scheduled to tour the experimental facilities and the Autonomous Driving Data Sharing Center within K-City after the ceremony. He stated, "To secure global leadership in autonomous driving, we will provide comprehensive support, including urban demonstration assistance, AI infrastructure development, and regulatory rationalization."