Two hundred artificial intelligence-based autonomous vehicles will begin operating on roads in Gwangju in the second half of this year, marking Korea's first large-scale self-driving demonstration project.
Hyundai Motor (005380.KS), Kia (000270.KS), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), the Gwangju Metropolitan City government, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (000810.KS), Autonomous A2Z and RideFlux signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju to launch the autonomous driving pilot city project. The public-private partnership, dubbed "Team Korea Autonomous Driving," will oversee large-scale fleet operations, data collection and technology verification. The pilot will begin in the second half of this year in Gwangju's Gwangsan District and parts of its Buk and Seo districts, expanding next year to the remaining areas of Seo District as well as Nam and Dong districts, eventually covering the entire 500.97 square kilometers of the city.
In the public sector, MOLIT will oversee the project, handling policy implementation and regulatory groundwork. Gwangju will provide demonstration infrastructure including corporate workspaces, vehicle depots and charging facilities, while the Korea Transportation Safety Authority will manage administrative support and verify technology results.
In the private sector, Hyundai Motor and Kia will manufacture about 200 autonomous vehicles based on existing mass-produced models for the pilot. Each vehicle will be equipped with eight cameras and one radar to handle a range of driving situations. The configuration omits lidar, unlike the robotaxis operated by Motional, the joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv. Motional's robotaxis are set for their first commercial launch in the United States later this year.
Hyundai Motor and Kia also plan to carry out technology development and verification using vehicles equipped with its autonomous driving solution "Atlas AI." The companies will review options such as adding sensors during the demonstration. Atlas AI uses an end-to-end (E2E) approach that integrates perception, judgment and control into a single AI model. By learning from real-world driving data in an integrated manner, the system can respond to complex traffic situations more effectively than conventional rule-based approaches that rely on pre-programmed rules and scenarios.
Hyundai Motor and Kia will also operate the autonomous driving service platform using Shucle, its AI-based mobility platform. The platform will serve as an integrated control system handling customer ride requests, vehicle dispatch and route planning based on traffic conditions. Autonomous driving startups Autonomous A2Z and RideFlux will conduct technology verification using the autonomous vehicles and operating platform supplied by Hyundai Motor and Kia, while Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance will build an accident response system and develop autonomous driving insurance products.
The signing ceremony was attended by Land Minister Kim Yoon-duk, Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung, Korea Transportation Safety Authority Chairman Jeong Yong-sik and Park Min-woo, president of Hyundai Motor and Kia's Advanced Vehicle Platform division, along with officials from Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Autonomous A2Z and RideFlux. "We cannot fall behind the United States and China, the leaders in autonomous driving," Kim said. "We will advance the autonomous driving pilot city project as a mega special zone that combines regulatory exemptions with a package of policy support."
"This pilot project will be an important turning point for advancing Korea's autonomous driving technology," Park said. "We will provide customers with a high-quality autonomous driving experience and, over the medium to long term, lay the groundwork for securing leadership in self-driving technology."
