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Gov't plans to establish test cities, revise laws and more to bolster self-driving vehicle industry

Published: 26 Nov. 2025, 17:52

A Waymo autonomous vehicle on Steiner Street in San Francisco on Nov. 17, 2023 [AFP/YONHAP]

Korea plans to establish large-scale autonomous driving test-bed cities as part of a push to advance domestic autonomous vehicle technology from Level 3, or conditional automation, to Level 4, or high automation; overhaul related regulations; and strengthen the competitiveness of the industry.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the measures on Wednesday.

The joint government plan aims to create a citywide autonomous driving test zone by next year and deploy around 100 autonomous vehicles within it. Currently, autonomous shuttle buses and other vehicles operate only in a limited manner across 47 designated pilot zones rather than at full urban scale.

In contrast, more than 100 autonomous vehicles are already operating at all times in cities — including San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as China's Wuhan and Shenzhen — accumulating large volumes of data across multiple routes and in congested traffic and other difficult-to-drive environments.

With their vast capital and extensive real-world testing, the United States and China are racing ahead, leaving Korea at a disadvantage. Among the world’s top 20 autonomous driving companies, 14 are based in the United States, four in China and only one each in Britain and Korea.

The government also plans to revise relevant laws to allow the use of raw video footage for research and development. Under current laws, collected footage must be altered to pseudonymize any people or objects captured in the video.

A Tesla Model X vehicle is seen on display before a test drive at a Tesla service center in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on May 19. [KIM MIN-SANG]

Allowing the use of raw video footage could increase recognition accuracy by up to 25 percent, the ministry said.

Legal frameworks will also be modernized. The government plans to introduce a new category of legal responsibility — the autonomous vehicle safety manager — for driverless Level 4 vehicles, specifying criminal and administrative liability for violations like signal breaches or hit-and-runs.

Additionally, a tripartite consultation body involving the government, autonomous driving companies and taxi industry representatives will be formed to mitigate the potential impact of autonomous taxis on existing taxi operators.

“The timing is right for bold policies to enhance Korea’s technological capabilities in autonomous driving and improve public confidence,” the ministry said, adding that it aims to commercialize Level 4 autonomous vehicles by 2027.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY BAEK MIN-JEONG [[email protected]]