"The autonomous driving industry has high expectations for the pilot city project launching in Gwangju this year. We expect it to become a testing ground where many companies participate, accumulate data and advance commercialization technology."
Jeong Ha-wook, vice CEO of Rideflux, said in a written interview with the Seoul Economic Daily on the 2nd that "the pilot program in Gwangju will be a turning point in the development of autonomous driving commercialization in Korea."
Jeong said, "Starting in the second half of this year, the government will invest 60 billion won to deploy a total of 200 robotaxis across downtown Gwangju." He added, "I hope autonomous driving cities like San Francisco in the United States will gradually emerge in Korea as well, creating an environment for large-scale commercialization and broadening the related industrial base." For the Gwangju project, Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) has been selected as the vehicle manufacturer and transportation platform operator, and several software companies have submitted bids.
Rideflux is considered one of Korea's leading autonomous driving software startups, having logged a cumulative 20,000 hours of pure autonomous driving time. Founded in 2018, the company currently operates autonomous driving services across 15 routes in 10 cities nationwide, including Seoul, Busan and Jeju. In June 2024, it became the first company in Korea to receive a temporary operation permit allowing phased testing of driverless autonomous vehicles without a safety operator in the driver's seat — a distinction it still holds as the only such case. The company is also in the pilot phase for autonomous logistics trucks operating between Seoul and Jincheon.
Jeong said the domestic autonomous driving market needs to narrow the capital gap with major technology companies in the United States and China in order to grow. "Waymo in the U.S. has received tens of trillions of won in investment with the support of its parent company Google and has been developing technology for more than 10 years," he explained. "Chinese companies are also fundamentally receiving investments in the trillions of won to pursue technology development and large-scale commercialization." He noted, "Even Rideflux, which has received relatively large investments among domestic autonomous driving companies, stands at around 88 billion won." He added, "Just three to four years ago, the technology gap between Korea and China was not significant, but now we are at risk of the gap actually widening."
On regulations, Jeong said, "Recently, large-scale commercialization in Korea is also gaining momentum thanks to active government support." He cited as an example that just two years ago, autonomous driving on highways required permits from every local government along the route, but a legal revision now means only approval from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is needed. "However, laws and insurance frameworks regarding the responsible party and scope of liability in autonomous vehicle accidents are still being established," Jeong said. "I believe that as the industry expands and sufficient data is accumulated, the regulatory framework will naturally be supplemented."
Jeong predicted that the commercialization of autonomous vehicles such as robotaxis and robo-trucks will take place within the existing transportation industry's license ecosystem, reflecting Korea's unique circumstances. "I understand that transportation industry workers also feel that autonomous driving commercialization is an inevitable future and are preparing to engage in dialogue," he said. "The government, existing ecosystem participants and technology companies must continue social discussions on how to harmoniously usher in the era of autonomous driving commercialization going forward."
