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Gwangju named Korea's first citywide autonomous driving test zone to challenge U.S., China leads

Published: 21 Jan. 2026, 17:19 Updated: 21 Jan. 2026, 18:11

An autonomous vehicle operates in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Jan. 5. [KIM JUNG-HUN]

GWANGJU — Gwangju Metropolitan City will be turned into a full-scale testing ground for AI-powered autonomous vehicles, a move officials say aims to accelerate development and narrow the technology gap with the United States and China.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on Wednesday it will designate Gwangju as the country’s first citywide autonomous driving demonstration zone. As early as the second half of this year, about 200 self-driving vehicles are expected to operate on public roads across the city.

The plan marks the first time Korea will use an entire city as a testing environment for autonomous vehicles. Officials likened the approach to large-scale trials already underway in cities such as San Francisco and Wuhan.

The initiative forms part of the new administration’s broader economic growth strategy and its push to strengthen competitiveness in autonomous driving. By opening public roads, the government aims to accelerate the development of AI-based technologies and test services intended for commercial deployment.

Korea has introduced advanced regulatory frameworks in recent years, including the world’s first safety standards for Level 3 conditional automation and a performance certification system for Level 4 high automation. But testing has largely been confined to limited zones.

That approach, the ministry said, has left the country ill-prepared for a shift toward AI systems that learn from large-scale data and make independent driving decisions. As a result, Korea has fallen behind global leaders.

Citywide demonstrations will allow autonomous vehicles to learn from real-world traffic conditions, including rush-hour congestion, residential neighborhoods, downtown corridors and nighttime driving.

Lee Jae-yong, right, chairman of Samsung Electronics, poses for a photo after looking over BMW’s latest electric vehicles, including the new i7 equipped with Samsung SDI’s advanced P5 battery cells, with BMW CEO Oliver Zipse and others at the BMW Driving Center in Yeongjong Island, Incheon, on Dec. 17, 2022. [YONHAP]

To manage the program, the government will appoint the Korea Automobile Testing and Research Institute, part of the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, as the lead agency. It plans to select about three autonomous driving companies in April through an open call.

A total of 200 test vehicles will be distributed among the selected companies based on their technological capabilities. Trials will begin with autonomous driving with a safety driver and will gradually transition to fully driverless operation following annual evaluations.

The plan also calls for building a standardized system to collect and preprocess driving data for AI training. The government will support large-scale training using GPU resources at the national AI data center.

Additional measures include remote monitoring and safety management systems, as well as a dedicated insurance product for autonomous driving trials to reduce compensation risks in the event of accidents.

“With autonomous driving technology rapidly shifting to an AI-centered approach, it is difficult to secure competitiveness without large-scale verification on real roads,” Land Minister Kim Yun-duk said. “If the autonomous driving technology level in the United States and China is that of an adult, ours is at an elementary school level. With the mindset that this is the last chance to overcome the technology gap, we will help Korea make a rapid leap to the level of advanced countries."

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM JUN-YOUNG [[email protected]]