"We have only three years to catch up with the United States and China. We must not miss this golden time."
Han Ji-hyung, CEO of Autonomous A to Z, made these remarks at the National Assembly Unicorn Farm X Korea Startup Forum Policy Pitching Session held at the company's research center in Pyeongchon, Gyeonggi Province, on January 16. The session was convened to push for easing various regulations that hinder the growth of domestic startups.
At the event, Autonomous A to Z called on the government to support large-scale pilot programs. According to Han, more than 2,500 autonomous vehicles are operating in pilot programs in the United States alone, while China has approximately 1,500 to 2,000 autonomous vehicles in operation. Han argued that Korea must conduct large-scale pilot programs to keep pace with the US and China in autonomous driving technology.
"Rather than trying to beat the US and China technologically, we should focus on creating revenue models quickly," Han said. "If Korea implements a system mandating autonomous vehicles as alternative transportation in complex urban areas and underserved rural regions, we could achieve commercialization faster than the US and China."
Healing Paper, which operates Gangnam Unni, Korea's largest cosmetic medical platform, proposed shifting medical advertising regulations from pre-approval to post-monitoring, as practiced in the US and Japan. Under current Korean medical law, a review body under the Korean Medical Association pre-screens all medical advertisements.
"Countries like the US and Japan regulate public healthcare and cosmetic medical services separately," said Hong Seung-il, CEO of Healing Paper. "In Korea, a private review organization completely prohibits the disclosure of non-covered treatment prices and reviews that the Ministry of Health and Welfare actually permits."
Reco, a waste management company, criticized regulations that prevent private companies from using temporary storage facilities for waste processing, unlike public entities. "For non-public waste, it is practically impossible to optimize logistics hubs," said Kim Geun-ho, CEO of Reco. "Private companies end up increasing carbon emissions by making long round trips to waste processing plants with small vehicles."
Kim added, "Without intermediate logistics centers, it becomes more practical to collect waste for incineration rather than recycling. We hope local governments will establish systems allowing private companies to set up hubs for transferring waste to larger vehicles."
Kim Do-jin, CEO of feminine care startup Happy Moonday, called for improvements to the sanitary pad voucher program. "The current voucher program requires recipients to obtain cards and purchase products through limited retail channels with restricted product options, depending on the card issuer," Kim said. "There are bottlenecks preventing recipients from receiving menstrual products efficiently."
Korea Startup Forum and the National Assembly Unicorn Farm plan to continue discussions to translate the opinions raised at the session into regulatory reforms. "We will strengthen our role as a bridge connecting field voices to policy," said Kim Jae-won, Chairman of Korea Startup Forum. "We will work with the National Assembly Unicorn Farm to deliver results."