Hong Ji-seon, second vice minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, speaks at the steering committee meeting of the Mobility Innovation and Growth Forum on Thursday. [Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport]
Hong Ji-seon, second vice minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, speaks at the steering committee meeting of the Mobility Innovation and Growth Forum on Thursday. [Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport]

"The global competition surrounding autonomous driving is rapidly shifting beyond technology development into a race to secure data and commercialize services."

Hong Ji-seon, second vice minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said Thursday that South Korea must clearly recognize and respond to this shift to gain an edge in the autonomous driving race. He made the remarks at the steering committee meeting of the Mobility Innovation and Growth Forum.

Hong reviewed progress on the "2030 Mobility Innovation and Growth Roadmap" announced in February and shared the forum's first-half results. The meeting also covered second-half priorities and tasks across autonomous driving, demand-responsive transit, personal mobility devices, remote driving and highway mobility services.

He then said the ministry would "actively support the Mobility Innovation and Growth Forum in establishing itself as a substantive public-private cooperation platform that resolves on-the-ground problems and produces policies that people can feel."

Meanwhile, a policy seminar held after the forum, under the theme "Conditions for Successful Commercialization of Level 4 Autonomous Driving," examined progress on autonomous driving pilot projects set to take place in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province in the second half of the year, along with plans to build a data ecosystem for AI training. Participants discussed the challenges and public-private cooperation measures needed to bring Level 4 autonomous driving into real-world commercial service.


smh@heraldcorp.com