The South Korean government announced Monday that it will launch an "Autonomous Vehicle Accident Liability Task Force" to establish standards for accident responsibility and systematize compensation procedures ahead of operating 200 autonomous vehicles in Gwangju in the second half of this year. The initiative aims to preemptively prepare for the commercialization of autonomous vehicles by 2027.
The government amended the Automobile Damage Compensation Guarantee Act in 2020 to create a victim protection framework that provides compensation first and seeks restitution later in autonomous vehicle accidents. However, critics have pointed out that standards and procedures remain insufficient for determining multi-layered responsibility involving vehicle manufacturers, autonomous driving systems, transportation platforms, and cybersecurity during accident cause investigations and restitution processes.
The need for an accident response framework has become particularly urgent as large-scale autonomous vehicle operations are scheduled to begin in Gwangju in the second half of this year, following the "Autonomous Driving Demonstration City Plan" announced in January.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) will oversee the task force, with the Korea Automobile Damage Compensation Promotion Agency serving as secretariat. Eighteen experts from the legal, engineering, insurance, and industrial sectors will participate as committee members. The task force plans to systematically classify possible accident types and standardize liability criteria and compensation processes by the end of the year. Based on these findings, the task force will also identify areas for amending the Automobile Damage Compensation Guarantee Act and the Autonomous Vehicle Act.
The task force will additionally review accident response systems within the demonstration city and oversee the operation of insurance products to build a victim-centered compensation framework.
"It is important to preemptively address various accident liability issues as we enter the era of autonomous driving commercialization," said Park Jun-hyung, Director General of the Mobility and Automotive Bureau at MOLIT. "We will build an integrated response system linking law, technology, and insurance to create an autonomous driving environment where the public can feel safe."