Korea will reference Beijing's driverless zone in its own automated-driving policy

South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said its delegation to the 12th APEC Transport Ministerial Meeting in Beijing on September 22 had visited the Beijing Yizhuang autonomous-driving demonstration zone, where it observed fully driverless robotaxis and automated buses operating on public roads.

The release states that the delegation plans to reference the operating framework and safety-management practice of that demonstration-to-commercialization process in Korea’s own automated-driving policy. The delegation was headed by Park Jae-soon, director-general for transport and logistics.

The ministry also set out the governance agenda it raised at the meeting, which drew 21 member economies. As connectivity in digital transport systems increases, it said, cooperation between member economies matters on data use and protection, cybersecurity, technical standards and safety standards.

Korea presented its own work at the meeting, including a city-wide automated-driving demonstration in Gwangju, the linking of automated driving to demand-responsive transport, its national intelligent transport systems and electronic tolling infrastructure, and automation in smart logistics. It proposed expanding smart-mobility cooperation through the APEC Smart Mobility Forum, which it leads.

Kim Bae-seong, who chairs the APEC transportation working group, reported that the group had produced a smart mobility recommendation, consolidated four expert groups and created a new Expert Group on Transportation Research.

The release was distributed on September 22 under an embargo for September 23 morning editions.